Breeding for resistance to ascochyta blight and cold is an important step in the development of winter sowing of chickpea, which is key to improving yield of this crop in the Mediterranean basin. Within the available chickpea germplasm we found a large genetic variability for resistance to cold (to temperature as low as -13ºC). The phenological stage is very important in determining the response of the crop to the cold as cold resistance in field tends to decrease from germination to flowering. Significance of this observation in terms of application to plant breeding and agronomy is discussed. If we use adapted cultivars, early sowing largely improves availability of water and increases water use efficiency. Compared to spring sowing, the early sowing does not increase the total amount of water extracted from the soil. Nevertheless, spring chickpea will remain an interesting crop for the traditional wheat-based cropping systems because of its low cost and flexibility in operations. The improvement and stabilization of its yield partly depend on selection of cultivar resistant to drought. Physiological processes like escape through earliness, increase of roots density or osmotic adjustment could be improved through plant breeding.