Future Breeding Needs: Muehlbaur et al. (1985) indicated that for a narrow range of environments the breeding objectives should be clearly defined, including specific characters of locally grown cultivars that are to be improved, and that the pedigree method may be advantageous in selection. In Bangladesh, the winter lasts only around 110 days. So the new varieties must be of about 110- 120 days' duration. Moreover, they should be resistant to rust and stemphylium-blight diseases and must produce stable and high yields. Breeding varieties for high-management conditions is also essential to make lentil competitive with cereals. The development of varieties that could give higher yields under better management such as fertilizers and irrigation is important. Although it is well known that genetic erosion has occurred in most of the pulses due to their cultivation on marginal and poor soils, there is enough potential for a favorable response to better management. Lentil can be grown in the flat Barind areas of Godagari and Dinajpur regions but the lack of soil moisture is a limiting factor during the cropping season. It is, therefore, necessary to develop varieties that can thrive well in these conditions.
Strategies Lentil is specifically adapted and therefore gives small yields when introduced in new environments (Muehlbaur et al. 1985). More germplasm especially from the Indian subcontinent should be introduced. The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), India, and ICARDA , Syria are potential sources of germplasm. At present ICARDA maintains about 4700 germplasm lines from 47 different countries and we may request them to supply us with materials according to our needs. The ongoing hybridization program needs to be further intensified, involving local cultivars. Muehlbaur et al. (1985) reviewed the yield component studies. They concluded that branching pattern and a number of fruits reaching maturity are the most important characters which contribute positively to yield, although these characters are also influenced by environments and agronomy (spacing, time of sowing, fertilizers). Singh and Singh (1969) reported high heritability estimates and genetic advances for pod number, seed size and grain yield. They observed that pod number had the strongest association with seed yield and seed size had a negative association with seed yield. Several other workers have reported the important contribution of pod numbers and primary and secondary branches to grain yield. Smithson et al. (1985) reported that seed size is a heritable character and larger seed size (within a certain limit) contributes positively to yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Therefore, during selection, emphasis should be given to the production of a larger number of branches and pods,and a relatively larger seed size.
Screening against rust and stemphylium blight should continue with the spreader-row technique. However, the disease incidence under natural conditions varies and sometimes is not sufficient to create a disease pressure on the population. Therefore, a proper selection of resistant plants or families is difficult. Sufficient disease pressure must be ensured by artificial inoculation of the fungal culture in the laboratory. The pathologists should also study whether spraying of leaves and plant parts of the susceptible lines would be an effective technique to create disease pressure, particularly for rust and stemphylium blight.
ICARDA ' s help in crossing L 5 with early, rust resistant lines with larger seed size should continue. In fact, this linkage should be strengthened further. Cooperation of other institutions working on lentils, such as the Crop Development Centre, Saskatoon, Canada; USDA - ARS, Washington State University, USA and the Directorate of Pulses Research, Kanpur, India may be sought for seed materials and scientific information regarding crop improvement.
Therefore, to increase lentil productivity in Bangladesh, varieties of 110-120 days' duration, resistance to rust, stemphylium blight, with 100-seed mass around 2.0 g, and yield potential of 2.0-2.5 t ha-1 are required.