Chickpeas, a neglected crop, may soon get a high-tech makeover

PLINY THE ELDER, a Roman administrator with a sideline in philosophy, appreciated the complexities of the chickpea. In his master work, “Naturalis Historia”, he wrote of it: “This plant presents considerable differences in reference to size, colour, form and taste.” One type, he reported, came in the shape of a ram’s head. Another, the Venus pea, was white, round and smooth. A third had small, angular seeds.These days, chickpeas are still as varied, though the main types now recognised are the large, light-coloured Kabuli and the smaller, darker Desi. They are grown in more than 50 countries, particularly in Asia and Africa, and contribute 11.5m tonnes of protein-rich pulses to the world’s food supply, making them the third most productive leguminous food crop, after beans and peas. But their variety is under-exploited, and much of it is found in poorly studied “landraces”—local varieties that have some genetic coherence but are not as selectively bred as modern cultivars.