Determination of the Optimum Sowing Date of Chickpea(Cicer Arientinum L) in Some Selected District of South Region in Rain Fed Condition

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in Guraghe zone Meskan and Sodo District   from August 2013 to February 2014  on farmers’ fields with objectives of investigating effects of seven sowing dates namely  Mid to late August (23/08/13),  late August  (30/08/13),  Early September (6/9/13), mid September (13/9/13) mid to late September (20/9/13) Late September (27/9/13) Early October (04/10/13) on growth and yield components of chickpea var Habru (FLIP 88-42c). The trial was carried out with RCBD design with three replications in each of the sites. Results showed mean squares of PH (plant height), GY (grain yield) and GD (growth duration) were significant unlike that of SP (seeds/pod), BN (branch number/plant) and HSW(hundred seed weight). Plants from early planted plots were 13.8 cm and 36 days taller and older than plants from later plantings, respectively. Similarly, disease incidence was significantly higher (p<0.05) in earlier plantings than that of later once. Consequently, grain yield due to Mid September planting resulted in significantly higher (p<0.05) yield (24.7 q/ha) compared to either early October (14.8 q/ha) or early August (15.1 q/ha) plantings. The harvest index showed that resource use efficiency and partitioning between growth and yield components was maximized in September plantings. Thus this study revealed that neither early nor late planting dates are suitable for chick pea production under rain fed conditions of Guraghe zone.

Keywords: Chickpea, Habru, planting date, growth duration and HI