5. Growth and yield performance of chickpea varieties (Cicer arietinum L.) under rainfed and irrigated conditions

Abstract

Water scarcity is the most common abiotic stress limiting chickpea production which is usually grown under the residual soil moisture. Considering this point, the present study was undertaken to determine the effect of irrigation levels on growth and yield of chickpea varieties. The experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh from November 2016 to March 2017. The experiment comprised of four varieties such as BARI Chola-5, BARI Chola-9, BINA Chola-4 and BINA Chola-7 and three irrigation levels viz. one irrigation at pre-flowering stage, two irrigations at pre-flowering and pod formation stages and rainfed condition. The results revealed that irrigation treatments had significant effect on growth parameters (plant height, nodule number and dry matter production). Among the yield and yield contributing characters, the highest number of pods plant-1 (48.67), number of seeds pod-1 (1.44), seed yield (1.25 t ha-1 ) and stover yield (2.85 t ha-1 ) were found from BARI Chola-9. Accordingly, highest number of pods plant-1 (49.75), number of seeds pod-1 (1.53), seed yield (1.32 t ha-1 ) and stover yield (2.94 t ha-1 ) were found from two irrigations (pre-flowering and pod formation stages). The lowest seed yield (0.63 t ha-1 ) and stover yield (1.63 t ha1 ) were found from BINA Chola-4 with rainfed condition while the highest seed yield (1.59 t ha-1 ) and stover yield (3.46 t ha-1 ) were found from BARI Chola-9 with two irrigations (pre-flowering and pod formation stage).Considering the above results, it can be suggested that BARI Chola-9 cultivation with applying supplemental irrigation before flowering and pod formation stages may be useful for yield maximization of chickpea.