Yield and Water Productivity Response of Drip-Irrigated Winter and Spring-Sown Chickpea in Mediterranean Environment

Legumes play important roles in conservation farming systems and contribute to food security in the developing world. However, in many regions of the world, their production has been adversely affected by drought. In this study, the effects of various irrigation strategies applied with a drip system and different planting dates on vegetative growth of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L; var. Inci), yield, yield components, and water productivity were determined under the Mediterranean climatic conditions. The experiment was carried out during 2010 and 2011 growing seasons at the Hacıali Station of the Çukurova Agricultural Research Institute using a local variety Inci. The treatments included full (FI), mild deficit irrigation (DI-75), partial rootzone drying (PRD-50), severe deficit irrigation (DI-25), and non-irrigated (DRY) for winter and spring planting times. DI-75, PRD-50, and DI-25 received irrigation water at 75, 50, and 25% of full irrigation, respectively. Both irrigation treatments and sowing dates had significantly different effects on grain yields. Interaction of irrigation and sowing dates was also significant in 2011. High temperature and water stress decreased plant development and reduced yield significantly for spring-planted chickpea compared to winter-planted chickpea. The greatest grain yields of 4.40 and 2.85 t ha-1 were observed, respectively, for winter and spring planted chickpeas for full irrigation (FI) treatment. The greatest water productivity was 0.97 kg m-3 for winter planted and 1.030 kg m-3 for spring planted chickpeas in the rain-fed (DRY) treatment. Both irrigation treatments and sowing dates had significantly different effects on leaf area index (LAI). Irrigation increased LAI more for winter-sown chickpea than spring-sown chickpea. In dry years, chickpea seed yield could be significantly increased by supplementary irrigation applied between flowering and beginning of seed growth. The results revealed that winter planting is better than spring planting with regard to yield as well as seed weight, first pod height, grain number per plant, number of pods per plant. In years with rainfall lower than the long-term average, deficit irrigations (DI-25) and PRD can be practiced to obtain higher yields with winter sowing.