Vol. 11, Issue 1 (2022)

Author(s):
DA Jadav, Dr. PD Kumawat, KP Bhuriya and KP Ghetiya

Abstract:
A field experiment entitled “Effect of sowing time, plant growth regulators and nipping on growth, yield and quality of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under South Saurashtra condition” was carried out under medium black calcareous soil and slightly alkaline soil in reaction during rabi seasons of 2019-20 and 2020-21 at the Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh. The experiment consisting of 36 treatment combinations, comprising 4 sowing time treatments (1^st week of October, 3^rd week of October, 1^st week of November and 3^rd week of November) in main plots and 3 treatments of plant growth regulators (water spray, NAA @ 50 ppm and GA₃ @ 50 ppm) along with 3 treatments of nipping (no nipping, one nipping at 30 DAS and one nipping at 40 DAS) in sub plots was laid out in split plot design with 3 replications. Yield attributes viz., numbers of pods per plant, seed, stover and biological yields were significantly higher in sowing of chickpea during 3^rd week of October as compared to other sowing time. However, different sowing treatments did not influence significantly the number of seeds per pod, seed index, harvest index. Foliar application of NAA @ 50 ppm significantly increased yield attributes viz., number of pods per plant, seed index and seed, stover and biological yields. Results further indicated that one nipping at 30 DAS significantly enhanced yield attributes viz., number of pods per plant and seed, stover and biological yields. The treatment combination of 3^rd week of October sowing and nipping at 30 DAS significantly increased number of pods per plant, seed, stover and biological yields. Further, treatment combination of 3^rd week of October sowing and foliar spray of NAA @ 50 ppm recorded maximum biological yield. While crop sown during 3^rd week of October along with foliar spray of GA₃ @ 50 ppm, being at par with 50 ppm NAA spray produced significantly higher stover yield over other treatment combinations.