Supplementary notes on ChickPea

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 Contents

Contents
1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3
2 Importance ............................................................................................................................................ 3
3 Geographical distribution ..................................................................................................................... 3
4 Climatic requirements........................................................................................................................... 4
5 Soil requirement ................................................................................................................................... 4
6 Varieties of Chickpea ............................................................................................................................ 4
6.1 Varieties by Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur................................................................... 4
6.2. Varieties by ICAR ............................................................................................................................... 5
6.3. Varieties by IARI ................................................................................................................................ 5
6.4. Desi Varieties..................................................................................................................................... 5
6.5. Kabuli Varieties .................................................................................................................................. 5
6.6. Drought Resistant Variety .................................................................................................................. 5
6.7. Wilt Resistant Varieties ...................................................................................................................... 5
6.8. Early Maturing Varieties .................................................................................................................... 5
7 Seeds and sowing .................................................................................................................................. 5
8 Fertilizer management .......................................................................................................................... 5
9 Water management .............................................................................................................................. 6
10 Weed management .......................................................................................................................... 6
11 Harvesting and Threshing ................................................................................................................. 6
12 Yield.......................................................................................................................................................... 6
13 Pests of Chickpea ..................................................................................................................................... 6
14 Diseases of Chickpea ............................................................................................................................ 7
15 Nipping ................................................................................................................................................. 7

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 “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and
perfection of human beings.” – Unknown

1 Introduction
√ Chickpea is also known as Gram or Bengal gram.
√ Chickpea is a’King of Pulses’.
√ Botanical name of Chickpea is/are

Sr. No. Types of Chickpea Botanical Name

1 Desi/Kala/Brown Chickpea Cicer arietinum

2 Kabuli/White Chickpea Cicer kabulium

√ The origin of chickpea is South West Asia (Afghanistan).

√ Family- Leguminosae (Papilionaceae)
√ It is a self pollinated and long day plant.
√ It is considered as a dry land crop.
√ Desi chickpeas have small, darker seeds and rough coats.
√ Kabuli chickpea has lighter/white coloured, larger seeds and smoother coat.

2 Importance
√ It is used for human as well as animal consumption.
√ Chickpeas are a nutrient-dense food, containing 22-23 % protein.
√ It also contains Carbohydrates, Phosphorus, Zinc, Thiamine, Vitamin B6, Magnesium.
√ The sour taste in leaves is due to presence of Maleic acid and Oxalic acid.
√ Its leaves are recommended for intestired disorder patients, due to presence of Maleic acid and Oxalic
acid.
√ It is helpful for strong muscles, great for the heart, immunity, healthy bones and teeth, lowers blood
sugar, aids in weight loss and has anti-inflammatory properties.
√ Desi chickpeas have higher fiber content than kabuli chickpea and hence a very low glycemic index
which may make them suitable for diabetic patients.

3 Geographical distribution
√ Desi chickpeas are mostly cultivated in Indian subcontinent, Ethiopia, Mexico and Iran.
√ Kabuli chickpeas are cultivated in Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Chile.
√ In 2018, India led production with 66% of the total global production, whilePakistan ,Iran, Australia,
United States, and Turkey were secondary producers.
√ Chickpea is the most widely produced pulse crop in India accounting to a share of 40% of the total
pulse crops produced in India.
√ In India, it is mainly grown in states of Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab,
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, etc.
√ Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of chickpeas in India.

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 4 Climatic requirements
√ Chickpea is a rabi (winter) season crop.
√ Crop duration is 120 to 130 days. Desi varieties are shorter in duration than kabuli varieties.
√ It is best suited to areas having low to moderate rainfall (600 mm to 900 mm) and mild cold weather.
√ Excessive rain after sowing or at the time of flowering is harmful to crop.
√ It is highly susceptible to frost at the flowering stage.
√ Optimum temperature required for growth is 24-30 °C.

5 Soil requirement
√ Chickpea has a tap root system.
√ Very fine and compact seedbeds are not good for chickpea.
√ It requires a loose and well aerated rough seedbed.
√ It can be grown on a wide variety of soil but Sandy loam to clay loam soil is best for cultivation of
chickpea with an efficient drainage and free from soluble salts preferably having 5.5 to 7.0 pH.
√ Saline-alkaline soils are not suitable for chickpea cultivation.

6 Varieties of Chickpea
6.1 Varieties by Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur
Variety Yield (q/ha) Character

DCP 92-3 22-25 Tolerant to lodging, wilt resistant, yellowish small seeds

IPC 97-67 (SCS-3) 17-18 Early maturing, resistant to wilt and tolerant to terminal
moisture stress

IPCK 2002-29 20-22 Kabuli chickpea variety, large seeds (34 g/100-seed wt.),
(Shubhra) moderately resistant to wilt

IPCK 2004-29 (Ujjawal) 20-22 Moderately resistant to fusarium wilt

IPC 2006-77 22-25 Medium tall, semi-erect growth habit, small leaves with
dark foliage, medium small size (16.5 g / 100 seed weight)
and attractive light yellow seed dry root rot and higher
grain protein content. Suitable for late sown conditions
colour, Resistant against wilt, stunt and collar rot

IPC 2004-98 18-20 Medium tall, semi-erect growth habit, green foliage, large
seed size (25.8 g/100 seed weight) and attractive seed
shape & colour. Suitable for normal sown conditions

IPC 2005-62 15-18 Medium and semi-erect growth habit, green foliage, small
seeded (15.2 g/100 seed weight) with yellow cotyledons

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 and resistant to wilt disease. Suitable for late sown
conditions

IPC 2004-01 15-18 Medium tall and semi-erect growth habit, medium green
foliage, medium seed size (20.2 g/100 seed weight) with
light brownish seed and moderately resistant to wilt.
Suitable for normal sown conditions

6.2. Varieties by ICAR

Pusa-209, Pusa-1003, DG-203

6.3. Varieties by IARI

PDM-11, BG-2024

6.4. Desi Varieties

JG-11, Co-3, RS-10, GCP-11

6.5. Kabuli Varieties

Pusa-1003, K-551

6.6. Drought Resistant Variety

NP-58

6.7. Wilt Resistant Varieties

JG-74, JG-315, BG-256, Awarodhi

6.8. Early Maturing Varieties

Chaffa, Vikas

7 Seeds and sowing

√ Chickpea is mainly sown in October to November.
√ Second fortnight of October is found to be the best sowing time but it may be delayed by the first
week of November for higher yields.
√ Seed rate is 75 to 100 kg/ha.
√ Spacing- Desi Chickpea 30 cm X 10 cm and Kabuli chickpea 45 cm X 15 cm.
√ Seeds are treated with 0.25% thiram.

8 Fertilizer management
√ Chickpea is a leguminous crop.
√ The general recommended dose of chickpea is 15-20 kg N/ha, 50-60 kg P/ha. If soils are low in K, an
application of 17-20 kg potassium is recommended.
√ The total quantity of N,P,K should be given as a basal dose.
√ Foliar spray of 2% urea found beneficial at the time of flowering stage.

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 9 Water management
√ Chickpea is mostly sown as a rainfed crop.

√ For higher yields light irrigation is recommended.

√ There should be sufficient moisture in the soil while sowing the crop.

√ One light irrigation at flowering and one light irrigation at grain development stage are required for

good crop.

10 Weed management
√ Chickpea responds well to hand weeding and hoeing as it improves aeration.
√ The best time for weeding and hoeing is between 25-30 days after sowing and if the weeds are still
present in the field, the second weeding should be done about 60 days after sowing.
√ Weeds may be controlled by herbicides also for which Basalin at the rate of 1 kg a.i. per hectare should
be used as preplant well incorporated in the soil or Tribunil at the rate of 2.5 kg/ha may be sprayed
as pre-emergence.
√ Fluchloralin @ 1 kg/ha or Oxidiazen @ 0.75 kg/ha may be sprayed as pre-emergence.

11 Harvesting and Threshing

√ The crop matures within 120-130 days.
√ After maturity the plants are pulled out or when cut with a sickle leaves become reddish brown , dry
up and start shedding.
√ Crop harvested when moisture reaches 15%.
√ The harvested plants are carted to the threshing-floor, dried for about a week and threshed by
trampling them under the feet of bullocks or by beating them with sticks.
√ The threshed seed should be sun dried for 3-4 days to bring their moisture content at 9-10%.

12 Yield
√ A good pure crop of chickpea gives about 15-20 quintals yield/ha in case of desi varieties but the
Kabuli varieties give about 25-30 quintals/ha yield.

13 Pests of Chickpea
√ Cutworm and pod borers are the major pests of chickpea crop.
√ The cutworms cut the tender stems, branches or damage the leaves by cutting the top, edge or
midribs, etc.
√ Cutworms may be controlled by soil treatment with 5% BHC dust or 3% Heptachlor at the rate of 25
kg and 35 kg/ha, respectively.
√ Aldrin dust should be a good substitute for these chemicals, if they are not available.
√ The pod borers used to bore the pods and eat the grains inside.
√ They may be controlled by spraying 35 EC Endosulfan in the concentration of 2 ml/litre at 15 days
interval and about two or three applications are required.
√ Endosulfan also controls aphids and cutworms if present in the field.

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 14 Diseases of Chickpea
√ The crop is prone to wilt, blight and rust diseases which have practically no cure except using resistant
varieties like BG-212, Pusa 109 and C-235 for wilt prone areas and G-543 and C-235 for blight.
√ Apart from using resistant varieties seed treatment with Benlate and Thiram (1:1) at 2 g/kg seed; for
seed wilt, soil treatment with Brassicol and Captan at 10 kg/ha rate: and adoption of proper crop
rotation should be followed: Awarodhi, JG 315, ICCC 32, BG 244, GNG 146, CG 588 and BG 266 have
resistance to both wilt and blight diseases.

15 Nipping
√ It is a special cultivation practice of plucking the apical buds of the crop at about 30-40 days after
sowing.
√ Nipping stops the apical growth and promotes lateral branching, thus the plants become more
vigorous and produce more flowers and pods and yield per plant is increased.

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