**Acknowledgements**

The high and low values were obtained for the W100s and the NSP, respectively. In relation to gain by selection (GS), the GP, W100s, NPP, and NSP characteristics had values of 2.93, 3.29, 2.37, and 0.73, respectively (Table 3). When expressed as a percentage (% GS), the grain production trait had the highest value for gain by selection at 42.7%. The lowest value was found for the average weight of 100 seeds. The predicted genetic gain (PGG) values were 9.79, 24.58, 9.39, and 5.34 for the GP, W100s, NPP, and NSP characteristics, respectively (Table

**Characteristic GP W100s NPP NSP** GP - 0.36 0.96\*\* 0.01 W100s - 0.13 0.14 NPP - -0.20 NSP -

**Table 4.** Coefficients of phenotypic correlation between grain production (GP), average weight of 100 seeds (W100s), number of pod per plant (NPP), and number of seeds per plant (NSP) obtained in six populations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1,

Regarding correlations between characteristics, results indicated that all characteristics were directly proportional (Table 4), except between the NSP and NPP, which were inversely proportional. Additionally, the results show a high correlation (0.96) between the NPP and GP. Moderate associations were found between the GP and W100s and the W100s and NSP within six generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1, and BC2) derived from crosses between LP 97-28 and

This chapter described that the leading producers of chickpea worldwide are Nigeria, Niger, and Brazil, and this crop has a large influence on economy of these countries. However, the drought represents a problem frequently observed in areas with agricultural potential, with negative repercussion on production components and consequent decrease of the yield in this culture. Breeding programs aiming tolerance to drought using selection strategies linked to genetic, biochemical, physiological, nutritional, and agronomic characteristics can help increase the yield and reduce losses promoted by the drought. In addition, flower structure and hybridization technique used in Núcleo de Pesquisa Vegetal Básica e Aplicada (NPVBA/ UFRA) were presented, as well as populations evaluated and plant management were explained in detail. This chapter described the results obtained in other breeding programs aimed at drought tolerance and also explained the potential uses to increase the crop yield.

and BC2), derived from cross between LP 97-28 × IPR-Uirapuru, Maringá-PR, Brazil, 2011 [72].

Asterisks (\*\*) indicate significance to 0.01 of probability by the *t*-test.

576 Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants - Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

3) [72].

IPR-Uirapuru [72].

**9. Final considerations**

This chapter had financial support from Fundação Amazônia Paraense de Amparo à Pesquisa (FAPESPA/Brazil), Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA/Brazil), and Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq/Brazil) to Lobato AKS.
