Irrigated Chickpea Trials at CSIDC

Introduction

There are two types of chickpea:

Kabuli (garbanzo bean)

Kabuli is a large seeded white chickpea used in salad bars. Kabuli have a fragile, thin seed coat which requires careful handling.
Due to its large size, production is difficult, resulting in a premium price for Kabuli.

Desi

Desi is a small seeded chickpea which is split or ground into flour for use in a variety of ethnic foods. The Desi chickpeas have a thick seed coat making for easier handling.

Chickpea is considered to be a dryland crop since it has a deep root system which can extract soil moisture from the lower soil profile.

Evaluation

A preliminary irrigation study with Desi (Cheston) and Kabuli (UC 27) chickpeas was performed at SIDC in 1994 and 1995.

Irrigation was applied in 25 mm amounts as the season progressed. Treatments were 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mm of applied water. The 25 mm treatment received one application early in the season. The other treatments received up to 3 successive irrigations as the season progressed to a maximum of 100 mm of supplemental irrigation.

The 1994 season was characterized by a wet May (2x normal precipitation), near normal June rains, a drier than normal July, and a wet August (2x normal). Desi chickpea showed a decline in yield with irrigation. Yield and seed size was reduced considerably with the full irrigation treatment (Table 1). The later irrigation lengthened the time to maturity to the point where the crop was frost damaged.

Kabuli chickpea responded similarly in 1994, with the greatest yield being produced with a single irrigation. Yield and seed size declined with further irrigation.

The 1995 season had half the normal rainfall in May, near normal for June and July, and three times normal in August. Irrigation increased yield for both chickpea types, although the yields at 25, 50, and 75 mm of irrigation were not statistically different from one another. As in 1994, lowest seed yield and seed size occurred at the 100 mm irrigation treatment.

Recommendations:

• Use irrigation to supplement growing season rainfall during dry periods.
• Use late season irrigation with care to avoid delayed maturity.