Land Preparation and Sowing Method
Chickpea is known as one of the oldest pulse and cultivated from ancient times both in Europe and in Asia. It is assumed that gram is originated either from Mediterranean or Himalayas region. Now it is cultivated in Pakistan, Italy, India, Rumania, Greece, North Africa, Egypt, Russia, North Africa and many other countries of the world. Chickpea have importance due to its nutritional values of seeds as it contains high protein contents about 25 – 28% after dehulling. Chickpea seeds are eaten fresh as green vegetables, roasted, boiled and fried; as snack food, sweet and condiments; seeds are ground and the flour can be used as soup and to make bread; prepared with pepper, salt and lemon it is served as a side dish as well as dal chana is very popular.
Climate:
Chick peas are usually grown as a rainfed cool-weather crop or as a dry climate crop in semi-arid regions. Kabuli types are less tolerant than Desi types to dry conditions, as they require more moisture to achieve a satisfactory grain size and yield. Frost, hailstorms, and excessive rains damage the crop. Relative humidity of 21–41% is optimum for seed setting.
Soil Type:
Chickpea is grown on a wide range of soils in Pakistan. Gram is generally grown on moderately heavy soils, light soils, mostly sandy loams are preferred in Punjab (Thal and Cholistan) desert. Though gram is grown on all kinds of soils, sandy loam to clay loam is considered to be most suitable. The best type of soil for chickpea is one that is well drained and not too heavy. On dry and light soils, the plants remain short while on heavy soils having high water retention capacity, the vegetative growth is abundant and fruiting is retarded. The soil chosen for its cultivation should be free from excessive soluble salts and near neutral in reaction. However, it is not suited to soils having a pH higher than 8.5.
Land Preparation:
Chickpea is highly sensitive to soil aeration. This imposes a restriction for its cultivation on heavy soils and demands for special care in seedbed preparation. A rough seedbed is required for chickpea. In case the chickpea crop is taken after a kharif fellow, it would be desirable to go for a deep ploughing during the monsoon as the same would help in larger conservation of rain water in the soil profile for subsequent use by the crop. Very fine and compact seedbed is not good for chickpea, but it requires a loose and well aerated seedbed.
Time of Sowing:
To prepare fine seedbed 2 to 3 ploughings followed by planking are recommended. Prepare the field in wattar condition (optimum soil moisture condition). Healthy seedlings with 3–4 leaves or 12–15 cm in height are ready for transplanting. Transplanting is done in the evening, and light irrigation is done after planting the seedlings.
Row to Row Distance: Row to row spacing 25 – 40 cm.
Plant to Plant distance: plant to plant spacing should be 10 cm and sowing should be done at the depth of 2 – 12 cm deep in soil.
Method of sowing:
Sowing is usually done on conserved soil moisture. A pre-sowing irrigation may be needed, if the available soil moisture is not adequate for germination. Drilling is best sowing method for chickpea.
Seed Rate:
Seed rates vary from 30 – 40 kg per acre depending on the area and seed type (desi or kabuli).
Approved Varieties of Chickpea
In Pakistan there are two kinds of chickpeas grown i.e. desi and Kabuli. A good gram crop in case of desi (black varieties) gives an output of 15 to 25 maunds yield per acre and in case of Kabuli varieties gives about 25 to 30 maunds yield per acre.
| Sr.No | Variety name | Released by | Year of Release | Salient Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venhar | BARI, Chakwal | 2000 | Desi, high yielding, medium seeded, tolerant to A blight, suitable for cultivation in Pothwar region. |
| 2 | Dashat | NARC, Islamabad | 2003 | Desi, high yielding, medium seeded, resistant to ascochyta blight, suitable for cultivation in Pothwar region. |
| 3 | Parbat | NARC, Islamabad | 2003 | Desi, high yielder than Dasht medium seeded, resistant to A. blight, suitable for cultivation in Pothwar region. |
| 4 | KK-2 | GRS, Karak | 2003 | Desi, drought tolerant, med. seed size |
| 5 | Thal-2006 | AZRI, Bhakkar | 2006 | Bold seeded, drought and blight tolerant, highly responsive to irrigation. |
| 6 | CM-2008 | NIAB, Faisalabad | 2008 | Kabuli, high yielding, mutant |
| 7 | Punjab-2008 | AARI, Faisalabad | 2008 | Desi, high yielding |
| 8 | Punjab Noor-2009 | AARI, Faisalabad | 2009 | Kabuli, high yielding, tolerant to Fusarium wilt, suitable for cultivation in irrigated areas. |
Fertilizer Management
Chickpea is a legume. It has nodulation capability which can fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil, if seed is inoculated with bio-fertilizer using inoculants developed for nodulation of chickpeas. The bio-fertilizers for chickpea are available with NARC and other establishments of PARC. 1to 2 bags of inoculants are sufficient to treat the seed of one acre. High and effective nodulation on the roots of the chickpea is an important agronomic factor for enhanced productivity and fixation of atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. The genotypes are now available with high nodulation capacity and consequently with higher yields. One bag of DAP as phosphorous is recommended for one acre. Foliar application of liquid micronutrients (zinc and boron) is suggested based on the recommended dose depending on soil fertility.
Irrigation
Chickpea is the most drought tolerant crop and thus suited well for light textured soils. Pre irrigation is essential to fulfill the soil profile to get proper germination. Total crop water requirement is varying from 150 – 250 mm for different areas in Pakistan. Waterlogging at flowering or pod formation can kill the crop or significantly reduce yield, especially at higher temperatures. Drainage must be excellent and watering time as short as possible, preferably less than 8 hours and definitely less than 24 hours (in heavy soil).
Weeds Management
Chickpeas are poor competitors with weeds because of their slow emergence and growth during winter. Effective weed control is essential for good yields and to avoid the buildup of troublesome weeds in the rotation. Management for broad leaf weeds needs to begin in the preceding cereal year because there are few options for in-crop control. In particular vetch(revarri) and other self-sown pulses can be problematic weeds. Chickpea being a stature crop suffers severely by infestation of weeds. One hand weeding or inter culture with hand hoe or wheel hoe after 25 – 30 days and second if needed after 60 days of sowing may take care of weeds.
Mode of Damage:
- Competition for Nutrients
- Competition for moisture
- Competition for light
- Competition for space (CO2)
- Allelopathic Effect
- Serve as reservoirs of pests and diseases
Chemical Control: No specific chemical control available. For grasses and narrow leaves weeds Quizalofop can be sprayed @250ml/100 liter if water.
Important instructions:
- Never use weeds as fodder after spraying.
- Do not spray in strong wind, rain or fog. Use clean water to spray.
- Use a (flat fan or T-Jet) nozzle as a standard practice for spraying.
- Spraying is advised to be followed after calibration of machine.
Diseases and Their Management
1. Wilt (Caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp ciceri):
Symptoms:
The plants start wilting and ultimately dry up at seedling and/or at flowering stage. The diseased plants are pulled out easily, due to the loss of rigidity. Sometimes, sudden dropping of leaves or only a few branches of a single plant is affected. The disease mostly spreads in patches, but entire field may also be affected in severe conditions. Severe damage has been reported during early pod filling.
Mode of disease spread:
The disease causing fungus may survive and carried over from year to year by sowing infected seed, while the diseased plant debris lying in the field or in the threshing area also helps the fungus to remain alive.
Control:
Cultivation of disease resistant variety is only the easiest, economical and safe method. However, following measures could be beneficial if applied:
- Avoid the cultivation of gram in the diseased area for three years.
- Improvements of soil condition with good drainage minimize the disease incidence.
- Use of disease free seed or seed treated with suitable seed dressing fungicides before sowing.
- Late and deep sowings reduce the incidence of the disease.
- Mixed cropping of gram with wheat, barley, rape, mustard, safflower, sorghum and millet help to check the disease.
- Diseased plants should be uprooted from the field and burnt.
- Sweeping the threshing floor and burning or burying all plant debris.
- Drenching or flooding of Foestyl Aluminum @ 1000grams /acre will be effective.
2. Blight Caused by Mycosphaerella rabiei (Ascochyta rabiei)
Symptoms:
The disease starts from the base of the plant, which result in the death of the whole plant. The infected plants could not be differentiated in early stages from the distance. The affected plants may show partial or total drying, with purple to dark brown spots of different sizes on stems, branches, leaf stalks and leaflets. These spots become brown to black lesions and affected plants or plant parts show burnt appearance. Primarily individual infected plants may be observed scattered, but later on the disease appear in circular patches and ultimately the entire field come under attack, therefore, whole crop may be destroyed completely. The disease symptoms may also occur on the pods and seeds. The pods produce blackish spots while the seeds become shrivelled.
Mode of disease spread:
The disease causing fungus is a soil borne and can remain viable for considerable periods. Seed may also help fungus to survive.
Control:
Trifloxystrobin+Tebuconazole 75% wg spray @ 65gm/acre.
3. Cercospora Leaf Spot (Caused by Cercospora canescens and C. cruenta)
Symptoms:
The spots appear on leaves, gray to brown in color and circular to irregular in shape. These spots increase in number and size, which turn into lesions of a reddish brown margin. The size of pods and seed is reduced, hence yield decreased considerably.
Mode of disease spread:
The disease causing fungus is seed borne.
Control:
Trifloxystrobin+Tebuconazole 75% wg spray @ 65gm/acre.
4. Root and Stem Rot/ charcoal rot (caused by Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizoctonia bataticola and R. solani):
Symptoms:
The disease is difficult to identify in initial stages. However, dark lesions are formed on the main stalk near soil level, forming localized dark green patches. The tissues of the affected portions become weak and shredded easily. If the plants will pull out, the basal stem and root may show dry rot symptoms.
Mode of disease spread:
The disease causing fungi are soil borne and remain viable for long periods.
Control:
The control measures are same as recommended for the wilt of gram.
5. Anthracnose (Caused by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum or Gloeosporium phaseoili):
Symptoms:
All the aerial parts of the plants are infected by the disease causing fungus. Initially, all the aerial parts of the plants are infected by the disease causing fungus. Initially, small spots appear in scattered manner, but later on they coalesce, giving rise to broad lesions, small spots appear in scattered manner, but later on they coalesce, giving rise to broad lesions, which become dead. The spots are usually depressed with dark center and bright red or orange margins. Sometimes, such lesions are seen lenticular to circular sunken and tan to brown.
Mode of disease spread:
The disease is seed borne, but secondary spread takes place by air borne.
Control:
Trifloxystrobin+Tebuconazole 75% wg spray @ 65gm/acre.
Insect / Pest and Their Management
Termite:
It feeds on root or near root zone of crop. Affected plant show symptom of drying up. It can be easily uprooted. It can affect at seedling stage and also near maturity.
Control:
To protect seeds from termite, treat seeds with Chlorpyriphos 20EC@10ml/kg of seeds. If infestation occur in standing crop, drench with Chlorpyriphos@5ml/10Ltr of water.
Cut worm:
Caterpillar remain hide in soil at depth of 2-4 inch. It cut at base of plant, branches or stem. Eggs are laid down in soil. Larva is dark brown with red head.
- Adopt crop rotation.
- Use only well decomposed cow dung.
- At early stage pick caterpillar by hand and then destroyed them.
- Avoid plantation of Tomato. Okra near gram field.
Control:
In low infestation spray Bifenthrin @330ml/100-150 litres water per acre.
Gram pod borer:
This is the most serious pest of chickpea and causes damage up to 75% reduction in yield. It feed on leaves causes skeletonization of leaves also feeds on flower and green pods.
Control:
For pod borer Abamectin+ chlorfluzuron @350 ml or Carbosulfan+ emammectin @200ml.
Harvesting
Chickpea crop mature in 3-7 months during maturity leaves turn brown/yellow. Plants are harvested slightly earlier or at maturity for dry seeds, by uprooting or cutting them near to the ground. After harvesting, crop is well dried by stacking plants in field for a few days. Threshing is made by beating or trampling with wooden flails, and then grains and chaff are separated by winnowing. Tall cultivars can be easily harvested by mechanized harvesting using case combines. Chickpeas are more subjected to insect damage usually stored in bags than when stored in bulk. To control seed beetles proper drying, cleaning, and aeration is necessary. Store damage can be minimized by the use of a vegetable oil coating. Baskets made from twisted straw are also used as storage containers.
.webp)
