Opportunities to improve the seasonal dynamics of water use in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) to enhance yield increase in water-limited environments

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) is one of the most important annual food legumes that plays an important role in the food and nutritional security of millions in the world. Lentil is mainly grown under rainfed environments, where drought is one of the most challenging abiotic stresses that negatively impacts lentil production in the arid and semi-arid areas. Therefore, development of drought-adapted cultivars is one of the major objectives of national and international lentil breeding programs. The goal of this review is to provide a report on the current status of traits of lentil that might result in yield increases in water-limited environments and identify opportunities for research on other traits. Lately, traits that are either related to developmental plasticity and/or altered rooting and shoot characteristics have received considerable attention in the efforts to increase lentil yield in water-limited environments. However, two traits that have recently been proven to be especially useful in other legumes are still missing in lentil drought research: early partial stomatal closure under soil drying, and limited-transpiration under high atmospheric vapor pressure deficit. This review provides suggestions for further exploitation of these two soil–water-conservation traits in lentil. Open image in new window Graphical abstract Opportunities to improve the seasonal dynamics of water use in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) to enhance yield increase in water-limited environments