Growth parameters
The data for one year of study are presented in Table 1 to show the impact of depth of sowing and straw mulching on dry matter accumulation (g m
-2), leaf area index and number of branches plant
-1, plant height (cm) at harvest stage of the “JAKI 9218” variety of chickpea. The observations showed that depth of sowing did not show any significant impact in increasing plant height among different depth of sowing. Straw mulching within row at 7.5 t ha
-1 and 5.0 t ha
-1 exhibited the tallest plants among different mulching treatments, while straw mulching on seeded row at 2.5 t ha
-1 and no mulching presented significantly lower plant height than straw mulching within row at 7.5 t ha
-1. Straw mulching on seeded row at 2.5 t ha
-1 showed significantly higher plant height than no mulching (Table 1). The greater plant height with straw mulching might be due to the moisture conservation in mulched plots which probably helped in growth and development of the crop. Similar study was reported by
Kumar et al., (2020).
The data on the dry matter accumulation (gm
-2) revealed that the depth of sowing and straw mulching influenced the dry matter accumulation in “JAKI 9218” variety of chickpea experimentation (Table 1). The treatment 10 cm depth of sowing being statistically on par with 7.5 cm depth of sowing produced a significantly greater dry matter accumulation than the 5 cm depth of sowing. The higher dry matter accumulation might be due to more moisture from monsoon rainfall that was stored in the subsoil below 5 cm and by improving the survival of
Rhizobium under more favourable soil conditions at this depth. Similar study was also reported by
Siddique and Loss (1999). Straw mulching within row at 7.5 t ha
-1 produced significantly higher dry matter than the straw mulching within row at 5.0 t ha
-1, mulching on seeded row at 2.5 t ha
-1 and control. Even straw mulching within row at 5.0 t ha
-1 and mulching on seeded row at 2.5 t ha
-1 recorded significantly greater dry matter accumulation than control
i.e., no mulching. The higher dry matter accumulation with straw mulching might be due to creation of favourable soil environment by retaining and providing moisture supply to chickpea crop in
rabi season.
The result from the experiment revealed that the depth of sowing and straw mulching treatments had significant effect on leaf area index of chickpea. The highest LAI (1.69) was observed in 10 cm depth of sowing and it was significantly higher than 5.0 and 7.5 cm depth of sowing in this experiment. Similar result was reported by
Malviya et al., (2010). Straw mulching with 7.5 t ha
-1 produced the highest LAI (1.79) followed by 5 t ha
-1 straw mulching (1.63) due to higher moisture conserved in mulched plots which improved growth and development of the leaves and the lowest LAI (1.24) was found in control
i.e., in no mulching treatment.
The observation on number of branches plant
-1 revealed that depth of sowing had significant effect on branches plant
-1 in “JAKI 9218” variety of chickpea. The highest number of branches plant
-1 (6.4) was recorded under 10 cm depth of sowing; however, it was on par with 7.5 cm depth of sowing (6.1) and the lowest number of branches plant
-1 (5.4) was obtained from 5 cm depth of sowing. Among different straw mulching treatments, mulching within row at 7.5 t ha
-1 registered higher values in number of branches plant
-1 and mulching within row at 5.0 t ha
-1 closely followed it; however, these two treatments were statistically on par as reflected in observed data.
No mulching resulted in the least values of number of branches plant
-1 at harvest. The better crop growth produces more number branches might be explained as due to more retention as well as supply of soil moisture for a longer period under straw mulching
(Dey et al., 2014). The result is also similar to the study of
Kumar et al., (2020).
Yield attributes
The data on yield attributes of “JAKI 9218” chickpea indicated that depth of sowing the yield parameters like number of effective branches m
-2 and number of pods effective branch
-1 (Table 2). The present study revealed that the treatment 10 cm depth of sowing being statistically on par with 7.5 cm depth of sowing registered significantly higher number of effective branches m
-2 and number of pods effective branch
-1 than the 5 cm depth of sowing. Sowing greater depth may enhance establishment due to higher soil water content in the seed zone, leading to better growth which results in higher number of effective branches m
-2 and number of pods effective branch
-1. The result is corroborated with
Mahdi et al., (1998). The data showed that depth of sowing did not show any significant impact in increasing number of seeds pod
-1 and seed index (weight of 100 seeds) among different depth of sowing. Mulching with straw treatments also significantly affected yield parameters like number of effective branches m
-2, number of pods effective branch
-1, number of seeds pod
-1 and seed index of “JAKI 9218” chickpea (Table 2). The data on number of effective branches m-2 and number of pods effective branch
-1 revealed that the straw mulching within row at 7.5 t ha
-1 being statistically on par with 5.0 t ha
-1 registered significantly higher number of effective branches m
-2 and number of pods effective branch
-1 than mulching on seeded row at 2.5 t ha
-1 and no mulching treatment. Among different straw mulching treatments, straw mulching within row at 7.5 t ha
-1 registered higher values in number of seeds pod
-1 and seed index of “JAKI 9218” chick pea and 5.0 t ha
-1 of straw closely followed it; however, these two treatments were statistically on par. But straw mulching within row at 7.5 t ha
-1 registered the significant superiority over the treatment no mulching. This might be due to higher soil moisture gained by the crop in mulched plot which helped to produce bold and sound seeds. Similar study was reported by
Dey et al., (2014).
Yield
The result of the treatments on grain and stalk yields of chickpea in the present experiment was narrated in the following segment. Grain and stalk yields of “JAKI 9218” chick pea were not influenced by depth of sowing (Table 3).
Among the depth of sowing treatments, 7.5 cm depth of sowing recorded higher grain and stalk yields over 10.0 and 5.0 cm depth of sowing but they were on par. Among the straw mulching treatments, 7.5 t ha
-1 straw mulching within row registered a significantly higher grain yield than other treatments, such as 5.0 t ha
-1 straw mulching within row, 2.5 t ha
-1 straw mulching on seeded row and no mulching, as noted in this experiment. The data showed that yield enhancement in 7.5 t ha
-1 and 5.0 t ha
-1 straw mulching within row was 35% and 25% over no mulching. 2.5 t ha
-1 on seeded row recorded a significantly lower yield than 7.5 t ha
-1 and 5.0 t ha
-1 straw mulching within row.
Among straw mulching treatments,7.5 t ha
-1 straw mulching within row resulted in the maximum stalk yield but being statistically on par with 5.0 t ha
-1 straw mulching within row produced significantly higher straw yield than 2.5 t ha
-1 on seeded row and no mulching. The percentage increase in stalk yield of 7.5 t ha
-1 straw mulching within row, 5.0 t ha
-1 straw mulching within row and 2.5 t ha
-1 straw mulching on seeded row over no mulching was 17.6, 15.7 and 9.4%, respectively. The highest grain yield (1319 kg ha
-1) and stalk yield (2659 kg ha
-1) were observed in 7.5 t ha
-1 straw mulching due to higher plant population at the harvest time, more test weight, higher number of seeds pod
-1 and higher dry matter accumulation in the mulched plot. Similar study was reported by
Dey et al., (2014).
Consumptive use of water
Consumptive use of water by the chickpea crop was calculated considering soil moisture contribution and effective rainfall only. The ground water level at the experimental site was much below the effective root zone of the crop. Hence, the ground water table contribution for growing the crop was not considered in the present investigation. The results presented in Table 4 revealed that the water used consumptively by the crop was maximum (26.01 cm) at 10 cm depth sown crop and was minimum (22.62 cm) at 5 cm depth of sown plot. Similar study was reported by
Fetri et al., (2016). The crop grown without mulching (control plot) showed maximum (26.05 cm) consumptive use probably due to the highest loss of soil moisture through evaporation and transpiration from the field. Consumptive water use was found lowest (22.56 cm) under mulching with 7.5 t ha
-1. Similar result was reported by Abd
El-Mageed et al., (2018).
Depth of sowing exerted non-significant effect on consumptive use efficiency of chickpea. The crop at 7.5 cm depth sown plot produced highest (51.18 kg ha
-1 cm
-1) consumptive use efficiency and the crop sown at 10 cm depth produced the lowest (45.44 kg ha
-1 cm
-1) consumptive use efficiency (Table 4). Similar study was reported by
Fetri et al., (2016). In case of mulching, the highest consumptive use efficiency (58.92 kg ha
-1 cm
-1) was recorded by 7.5 t ha
-1 straw mulching and it was significantly higher than that of control (37.71 kg ha
-1 cm
-1). This might be caused by higher crop yield and lower soil moisture loss resulting lower consumptive use in the mulched plot than the control one.