Weather
During the year 2019-20, 668.5 mm rainfall was received, which is 12.1% lesser than decennial mean (760.2 mm) (Fig 1). Last few years wide variation in rainfall both amount and intensity were noticed. During the cropping year (2019-20), higher rainfall was received in September (130.1 mm), October (224.3 mm) and November (130.6 mm) months with maximum rainfall during October (224.3 mm). The decennial mean revealed that higher rainfall was in October (132.9 mm), November (174.8 mm) and December (137.9 mm) months with maximum rainfall during November (174.8 mm) (Fig 1). During the cropping year (2019-20), 28.3% higher rainfall was received in maximum rainfall month (October) compared to decennial mean (November). This clearly indicated that climate change has influenced spatio-temporal variation in rainfall amount and intensity. Further analysis of rainfall data during cropping growing period (November to march) indicated that during the year 2019-20, 275.4 mm rainfall was received compared to 329.8 mm of decennial mean, which was 16.5% lesser. So, cropping year 2019-20 was a relatively dry year (Fig 2). Maximum rainfall was received during November followed by December.
Weather data analysis of sowing dates treatments revealed that average minimum temperature during cropping period was decreased with delay in sowing whereas average maximum temperature increased with delay in sowing (Table 1). The treatment November 2
nd FN sowing recorded higher average minimum temperature whereas December 2
nd FN sowing recorded higher average maximum temperature (Table 1). No particular trend was observed in relative humidity (RH). The total rainfall and rainy days during cropping period were decreased with delay in sowing (Table 1). Maximum rainfall of 154.0 mm with 12 rainy days were registered in November 2
nd FN sowing and minimum rainfall of 59.0 mm with 6 rainy days were registered in December 2
nd FN sowing (Table 1).
Days to 50% flowering
Number of days taken to 50% flowering was significantly influenced both by varieties and dates of sowing (Table 2). Among the four varieties, Nandyala Senaga-1 and Dheera recorded the highest and similar number of days to attain 50% flowering. JG-11 recorded the lowest number of days to reach 50% flowering, which might be due to their genetic nature
(Rehman et al., 2015). Chickpea sown on November 2nd FN took significantly more number of days (42.8) to bear 50% flowering, while the lowest number of days for 50% flowering was taken by December 2
nd FN sown crop. This might be due to lower average maximum temperature in former and higher average maximum temperature in latter prevailed during crop growing period (Table 1).
Aziz and Rahman (1996) also observed that number of days to flowering decreased with delay in sowing. This corroborates with the findings of
Ganguly and Bhattacharya (2001),
Kumar et al. (2006),
Kiran and Chimmad (2015) and
Thombre et al., (2019). Data revealed that interaction for days to 50% flowering was not significant (Table 2).
Days to maturity
Days taken to maturity were significantly influenced by varieties (Table 2). The chickpea variety JG-11 took significantly lesser number of days to attain maturity followed by Nandyala Gram-49, Nandyal Senaga-1 and Dheera. This might be due to genetic nature of the varieties. Days taken to maturity were significantly curtailed with delay in sowing of chickpea (Table 2). More number of days was taken to maturity in case of crop sown in November 2
nd FN and less number of days was taken to maturity in crop sown in December 2
nd FN. This might be due to increase in average maximum temperature during crop growing period with delay in sowing and also moisture stress (Table 1). These results in corroboration with the findings of Ray
Kripanidhi et al., (2017).
Plant height
Plant height was significantly influenced by varieties. Dheera which is released for mechanical sowing recorded significantly taller plants (58.4 cm) among the four varieties (Table 2). JG-11 recorded the shortest plants, but which was statistically on far with Nandyal Senaga-1 and Nandyal Gram-49. Variation in plant height among varieties might be genetic character. Plant height was not significantly influenced by dates of sowing and interaction between varieties and dates of sowing (Table 2).
Dry matter production per plant
Dry matter production per plant was significantly influenced by varieties. Among the four varieties tested, Nandyala Gram-49 recorded the highest dry matter production per plant, but which was statistically on par with Nandyala Senaga-1. This might be genetic attribute of the varieties. The lowest dry matter production per plant was recorded with JG-11. This might be due to its short stature and small size leaves. Dates of sowing have significant influence on dry matter production per plant (Table 2). The highest and similar dry matter production per plant was recorded with November 2
nd FN and December 1
st FN sowings. Early sowing dates encountered more optimum environmental conditions and allowed the plant to accumulate more dry matter. According to
Yadav et al. (1999) and
Thombre et al. (2019) vegetative growth period is longer and continued into the reproductive stage under normal than late sowing. The lowest dry matter accumulation was recorded with December 2
nd FN sowings (Table 2). Besides, growth period of the crop also decreased with each successive delay in sowing which was also reflected in reduced dry matter accumulation. Interaction between varieties and date of sowing didn’t have any significant influence on the dry matter production per plant (Table 2).
Number of pods per plant
Number of pods per plant was not significantly influenced by varieties (Table 2). These results are in corroboration with the findings of
Rahman et al. (2015). Time of sowing has a significant influence on number of pods per plant. Among the three different dates of sowings crop sown on November 2
nd FN recorded significantly higher number of pods per plant. The increased number of pods per plant might be due to higher dry matter production per plant and the favourable weather conditions especially rainfall distribution during the early stages of crop growth. Interaction between varieties and date of sowing didn’t have any significant influence on the number of pods per plant (Table 2).
100 grain weight
In chickpea, 100 grain weight was significantly influenced both by varieties and date of sowing (Table 2). Among the four varieties, Nandyala Gram-49 recorded the highest 100 grain weight (22.5 g), which was statistically on par with Nandyala Senaga-1 (22.4 g) and Dheera (21.2 g). The variety JG-11 recorded the lowest 100 grain weight. Among the three dates of sowing, crop was sown in November 2
nd FN and December 1
st FN recorded higher and similar 100 grain weight (22.1g). This might be due to optimum moisture availability during the grain filling stage at these sowing times. These results are in conformity with
Kumar et al. (2003),
Shelke et al. (2015) and
Thombre et al. (2019). Interaction between varieties and date of sowing didn’t have any significant influence on the 100-grain weight (Table 2).
Grain yield
Grain yield was significantly influenced by varieties and dates of sowing (Table 2). The highest grain yield (1491 kg ha
-1) was recorded with Nandyala Gram-49, which was statistically on par with Nandyal Senaga-1 (1465 kg ha
-1). The higher yield with Nandyala Gram-49 might be due to higher dry matter production per plant, number of pods per plant and 100 grain weight (Table 2). Chaitanya and Chandrika (2006) also reported similar findings. The lowest grain yield (1236 kg ha
-1) was recorded with JG-11, but which was statistically on far with Dheera (1264 kg ha
-1) (Table 2). Among the three dates of sowing, crop was sown in November 2
nd FN recorded significantly the highest grain yield (1462 kg ha
-1), but which was statistically on par with December 1
st FN (1424 kg ha
-1) sown crop. This might be due to higher dry matter production per plant, number of pods per plant and 100 grain weight (Table 2). Delayed sowings beyond December 1
st FN recorded lower grain yield might be due to moisture stress during grain filling stage. The total rainfall and number of rainy days decreased and average maximum temperature increased with delayed sowing (Table 1). The interaction effect did not have any significant influence on the grain yield of chickpea (Table 2).
