Evaluation of Cicer arietinum (chickpea) growth performance and yield in different soil types in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Chickpea performance under different soil types is still hazy in
Zimbabwe. A 3-year study to evaluate growth performance
and yield of chickpea under different soils types was done at
Department of Research and Specialist Services. Two chickpea
cultivars (Kabuli and Desi) and 3 different soil types
(Domboshava, Harare, Mazoe soils) were tested in a 2 × 3
factorial pot-experiment laid in completely randomized block
design (CRBD) with three replicates. Percentage germination,
days to initial flowering and 50% flowering were recorded.
Crop growth rate (CGR), leaf area ratio (LAR), total dry matter
production (TDMP), grain yield and harvest index (HI) were
measured. Data was analyzed for variance using JMP version
11.0 and means were separated by HSD0.05. Desi had
significantly lower percentage germination and
longer days to flowering than Kabuli in all soils. Kabuli under
Mazoe soil had shortest (36) average days to initial flowering
and both cultivars took longer (> 60) days to flower under
Domboshava soil than other soils. Kabuli had highest CGR, LAR
and TDMP at 3, 6, 9 and 12 weeks after planting in Mazoe soil
compared to other soils. Kabuli had highest (1.2 t ha-1) grain
yield under Harare soil but with significantly the
same HI to Mazoe soil. Generally, the chickpea cultivars
performed better on Mazoe and Harare soils than
Domboshava. Farmers can grow chickpeas in pH 4.9 clay
soils and avoid sand soils pH 4.9 soils. Nevertheless, further
researches to evaluate the chickpea growth performance in
more than 3 soil types are required.