Effect of integrated nutrients management through organic sources on growth parameters and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Introduction

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. 2n=14) is a legume crop of the Fabaceae family and Faboideae subfamily. It is also known as gram or Bengal gram, garbanzo, or garbanzo bean, and is sometimes known as Egyptian pea, or chana. Its seeds are high in protein. There are two different kinds of chickpea, Desi and Kabuli, based on the size, shape, and color of the seeds. Nutritionally, it contains 24% protein, 59.6% carbohydrates, and 3.2% minerals. It has the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and can also tolerate high temperatures during and after flowering. It is one of the earliest cultivated legumes: 7500-year-old remains have been found in the Middle East (Bell 2014) [4] . It is widely cultivated in India, Australia, Pakistan, Turkey, Myanmar and Ethiopia. It is an important winter season pulse crop and is also called Bengal gram. In terms of pulse production, India contributes about 25% to the total global pulses production (Pooniya et al 2015) [21] . This accounts for about 70% of the total global area with 67% of global production (Anonymous 2019) [2] . The major chickpea producing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Pulses are an important source of dietary protein and have the unique ability of maintaining and restoring soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation as well as addition of ample amounts of residues to the soil. Pulse crops leave behind a reasonable quantity of nitrogen in soil to the extent of 30 kg/ha. In India pulses are grown during 2018-19, pulses were cultivated over > 29 million ha (Mha) of area and recorded the highest ever production of 25.23 million tonnes (Mt) at a productivity level of 841 kg/ha. Under the individual crop category, Chickpea recorded a highest ever production of 11.23 Mt at a record productivity level of 1063 kg/ha in an area of 10.56 Mha. Major 07 states to contribute > 90 per cent in gram production have been Madhya Pradesh (4.60 Mt), Maharashtra (1.78 Mt), Rajasthan (1.67 Mt), Karnataka (0.72 Mt), Andhra Pradesh (0.59 Mt), Uttar Pradesh (0.58 Mt) and Gujarat (0.37 Mt). (Anonymous, 2020) [1] . In Uttar Pradesh, the area under chickpea is 6.11 lakh hectares with the production 6.84 lakh tonnes of chickpea with productivity of 1119 kg ha -1 in 2018-19 (Anonymous, 2019) [2] . The per capita availability of pulses in India is 35.5 g/day as against the minimum requirement of 70 g/day/capita as advocated by Indian Council of Medical Research. It is, therefore, imperative to increase the productivity of pulse crops, especially those of minor importance. The low productivity of chickpea crop in India may be ascribed besides other factors of its growing either in high rainfall areas or on very unproductive/ marginal lands. Nevertheless, it is imperative to increase productivity in different agro ecological zones by manipulating various agronomic practices. The two most commonly cultivated types of chickpea are white seeded "Kabuli '' being grown in northern parts and brown seeded "Desi" grown in other parts of our country. The productivity ha -1 of chickpea in our county is very less (780 kg/ha) in comparison with the other countries like Mexico (1600 kg/ha), Myanmar (1105 kg/ha) and Australia (1008 kg/ha). Its protein quality is better than other legumes such as pigeon pea, black gram and green gram (Kaur and Singh, 2005) [6] . Chickpea is a main nutritive legume crop of rural and urban households of the poor in developing countries. Chickpea is an economical source of quality protein. Chickpea has nitrogen fixation properties which plays an important role in maintenance of the soil fertility, particularly in the arid and low rainfall areas as chickpeas are being cropped under crop rotation (Roy et al., 2010) [15] . Chickpea is an important source of protein in the diets of the poor, and is particularly important in vegetarian diets and is an important substitute for animal protein. It is mostly consumed in the form of processed whole seed (boiled, roasted, fried, steamed, etc.), dal and as dal flour. It is used in preparing snacks, sweets and condiments. Fresh green seeds are also consumed as a green vegetable. It is an excellent source of protein (18-22%), carbohydrates (52-70%), fat (4-10%), minerals (calcium, phosphorus, iron etc.) and vitamins. It is an excellent animal feed and its straw has good forage value (Prasad 2012) [20] . Application of organic matter to meet the nutrient requirement of crops would be an inevitable practice in years to come, particularly for resource-poor farmers. Also, ecological and environment concerns over the increased and indiscriminate use of inorganic fertilizers have resulted focus on use of organic materials as a source of essential nutrients. Availability of quality organic sources of nutrients for the cultivation of chickpea in organic farming is a great challenge which needs a be promotion of organic input production at farm itself. It can be achieved through using different sources of nutrients which have different nutrient release pattern and efficiency. Combined application of organic manures mainly composts, vermicompost and Glyricidia green leaf manure produced higher yield apart from improving soil health (Babalad et al., 2009) [3] . Organic manures may increase soil fertility and thus the crop production potential possibly by changes in soils physical and chemical properties including nutrient bioavailability, soil structure, water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity, soil pH, microbial community and activity etc. Vermicompost is eco-friendly, low cost and an effective way to recycle agricultural and kitchen waste. Vermicompost is a recent innovation in composting technology. It is a mixture of earthworm's castings, organic materials humus and other organisms. Agricultural residues, animal wastes, dairy and poultry wastes, food industry wastes, sluge can all be recycled to give vermicompost. In recent years, use of vermicompost has been advocated in integrated nutrient management system in field crops.

Materials and Methods

This experiment was conducted at the Laboratory of the Department of Agronomy, as well as a field experiment at Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Dr. C. V. Raman University, Vaishali, Bihar. The experimental details are given below. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The net plot size (8 rows) 2.5 m x 2.5 m and the spacing used was 30 cm x 10 cm (row x plant). The experiment treatment details are given in table-1.

Results and Discussion

Growth parameters

The data are presented in table-2 which showed that the maximum plant height was found in T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, representing 13.12, 32.82, 49.62 and 58.91 cm followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), representing 12.97, 32.20, 48.32 and 56.77 cm and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poultry manure (1+1), presented 12.85, 30.87, 477.82 and 55.18 cm while minimum plant height was recorded T 0 -(Control) representing, 11.75, 27.95, 40.10 and 50.79 cm. The observations of plant height were taken at 30, 60, 90 and maturity stage days after sowing during 2019-20. This was supported by (Kene, 1990) [7] noted that the higher values of these growth parameters with this integrated nutrient might be due to supply of all the essential mineral nutrients in a balanced proportion and amount which resulted in better growth and development of plants. The observations of root length were taken at 30, 60, 90 and maturity stage days after sowing during 2020-21. The data are presented in table-2 which reflect that the maximum root length was found in T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, representing 6.93, 12.33, 21.13 and 34.07 cm followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), presenting 6.73, 12.20, 20.20 and 33.13 cm and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poutry manure (1:1), presented 6.69, 11.87, 20.00 and 33.00 cm. Minimum root length was recorded T 0 (Control) representing, 5.53, 9.75, 15.10 and 28.45 cm. The results were in agreement with the findings of Solaiman (1999) [18] and Jain and Singh (2003) [5] . Number of primary and secondary branches plant -1 , the observations of plant height were taken at 30, 60, 90 and maturity stage days after sowing during 2019-20. It is obvious from data are presented in table-3 which showed that the maximum number of primary branches plant -1 were recorded with in T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, representing 1.41, 4.11, 4.48 and 4.70 followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), presenting 1.40, 3.90, 4.16 and 4.42 and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poultry manure (1:1) presented 1.38, 3.85, 4.09 and 4.33 while minimum number of primary branches per plant was recorded T 0 -(Control) representing, 1.21, 3.18, 3.35 and 3.54 at 30, 60, 90 and at maturity stage. Similar trends were recorded in context of number of secondary branches plant -1 were influenced significantly by all the treatments combination at 30, 60, 90 DAS and maturity stages. It is obvious from data are presented in table-3 which reflected that the maximum number of secondary branches plant -1 were recorded with in T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, representing 2.90, 6.57, 7.10 and 7.16 followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), representing 2.81, 6.52, 6.95 and 7.06 and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poultry manure (1:1) presented 2.77, 6.43, 6.82 and 7.02 while lowest number of secondary branches plant -1 was found T 0 -(Control) presenting, 2.33, 5.64, 6.05 and 6.32. Similar, findings were recorded earlier by many researcher (Singh et al., 2003) reported that the growth of plants grown with vermicompost was much better than the growth of plants in control. The lowest values of growth parameters were recorded with the 100% RDF. Venkatesh and Basu (2011) [19] observed that the foliar application of urea apart from basal application of recommended dose of fertilizers increased branching in chickpea by 8-23% over no spray or water spray. The significant increase in the number of branches as a result of urea application also contributed towards overall biomass production under rainfed conditions.

Yield attributes

The data are presented in table-4, integrated nutrients management through organic sources (FYM, Poultry manure and Vermicompost) and application of Rhizobium significantly influenced the entire yield attributes viz, number of pod plant -1 , pod weight plant -1 , grain weight plant -1 and 100 seed weight were recorded with T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poultry manure (1:1) while minimum recorded T 0 (Control). Many research workers found the similar trend observed for the yield attributes perpetuated to build up the final outcome in terms of yield. Further, the nutrients of 100% RDF + 2% Urea spray have facilitated a greater economic sink capacity as the yield has a highly significant correlation with number of pods plant -1 , seeds pod -1 and 100-seed weight (Rajkhowa et al., 2003, Patil and Padmani, 2007, Reddy et al., 2007 and Sharma et al., 2010) [12,10,14,16] . This might be due to more effectiveness of combined application of organic manures due to complementarity in their response. It can facilitate the retention of added mineral fertilizers and the timing of their availability (Myers et al., 1994) [8] . Vermicompost application stimulated root growth, facilitating nutrient absorption and thereby favouring higher yield of the test crop (Padmavathiamma et al., 2008) [9] . Probably vermicompost alone may not provide all the necessary nutrient elements in adequate quantities and also due to slow release of nutrients from vermicompost as compared to chemical fertilizers for proper growth and yield in chickpea (Rajkhowa et al., 2003) [12] . Patil et. al. (2013) [11] reported that the yield attributing parameters like number of pods per plant (66.38), number of seeds per pod (1.23), test weight (20.91 g), grain yield (2400 Kg/ha) and halum yield (3156 Kg/ha) were recorded with the treatment combination of EC 1/3rd+VC 1/3rd+GLM 1/3rd equivalent to 100% RDN + panchagavya @ 3% spray at flower initiation and 15 days after flowering (DAF) compared to other treatment combinations and absolute control.

Yield

The data are presented in table-4 which showed that the maximum biological yield (Kg ha -1 ) was recorded with T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, representing 4945 Kg ha -1 followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), presented 4716 Kg ha -1 and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poultry manure (1:1) presented 4665 Kg ha -1 while minimum biological yield was recorded T 0 (Control), representing, 3759 Kg ha -1 . Similar, pattern was recorded in grain yield (Kg) ha -1 and maximum grain yield was recorded in T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, representing 2289 Kg ha -1 followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), representing 2157 Kg ha -1 and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poultry manure (1:1), presented 2115 Kg ha -1 while minimum grain yield was recorded T 0 (Control) representing, 1548 Kg ha -1 . Similarly, maximum straw yield (kg) ha -1 was recorded with T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, representing 2559 Kg ha -1 followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), presented 2556 Kg ha -1 and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poultry manure (1:1), represented 2550 Kg ha -1 while minimum straw yield was recorded T 0 (Control) representing, 2211 Kg ha -1 . Maximum harvest index (%) was recorded with T 8 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1) + Rhizobium, representing 47.24% followed by T 7 -FYM+ VC+ PM (1:1:1), representing 45.73% and T 6 -Vermicompost + Poultry manure (1:1), presented 45.33% while minimum harvest index was recorded T 0 (Control), presenting, 41.18%. The increase in stover yield might have attributed to the vigorous growth associated with increased dry matter production. This might be due to more effectiveness of combined application of organic manures and sowing methods due to complementarily in their response. It can facilitate the retention of added mineral fertilizers and the timing of their availability (Myers et al., 1994) [8] . Vermicompost application stimulated root growth, facilitating nutrient absorption and there by favouring higher yield of the test crop (Padmavathiamma et al., 2008) [9] . Similar trend was also observed in grain and straw yields by Rajput and Kushwah (2005) [13] and Patil et. al. (2013) [11] reported that the yield attributing parameters like number of pods per plant (66.38), number of seeds per pod (1.23), test weight (20.91 g), grain yield (2400 Kg/ha) and halum yield (3156 Kg/ha) were recorded with the treatment combination of EC 1/3rd+VC 1/3rd+GLM 1/3rd equivalent to 100% RDN + Panchagavya @ 3% spray at flower initiation and 15 days after flowering (DAF) compared to other treatment combinations and absolute control.

References

1. Anonymous. Agricultural Statistics Division, Directorate of Economics and Department of Agriculture & Co-operation, Project Coordinator's Report, IIPR Kanpur (UP). 2020;34.
2. Anonymous. Pulses Revolution from Food to Nutritional Security, GOI, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare. 2019;3-32.
3. Babalad HB. Integrated nutrient management for sustainable production in soybean-based cropping system. PhD Thesis, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. 1999;1-25.
4. Bell S. The small but mighty chickpea. Physio Org, University of Southern California. 2014;1-10.
5. Jain LR, Singh P. Growth and nutrient uptake of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) as influenced by biofertilizers and phosphorus nutrient. Crop Res. 2003;25:410-413.
6. Kaur M, Singh N. Studies on functional thermal and pasting properties of flours from different chickpea (Cicer arietinumL) cultivars. Food Chem. 2005;91:403-411.
7. Kene DR, Sirsat MT, Thakare KK, Darange OG. Response of pigeonpea to higher level of fertilization and its effect on nodulation and nitrogen fixation. PKV Res J. 1990;14:182185.
8. Padmavathiamma PK, Li LY, Kumari UR. An experimental study of Vermi-biowaste composting for agricultural soil improvement. Bioresour Technol. 2008;99(6):1672-1681.
9. Patil AB, Padmani DR. Effect of integrated nutrient management on growth and yield of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.). Int J Agric Sci. 2007;3(2):49-51.
10. Patil SV, Halikatti SI, Gurumurthy SB, Lokesh MS. Impact of weather on performance of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) with integrated organic nutrient management practices grown in vertisol of northern dry zone of Karnataka. Res Crops. 2013;14(3):777-785.
11. Rajkhowa DJ, Saikia M, Rajkhowa KM. Effect of vermicompost and levels of fertilizers on green gram. Legume Res. 2003;26(1):63-65.
12. Rajput RL, Kushwah SS. Effect of integrated nutrient management on yield of pea (Pisum sativum L.). Legume Res. 2005;28(3):231-232.
13. Reddy MM, Padmaja B, Malathi S, Rao LJ. Effect of micronutrients on growth and yield of pigeonpea. J SAT Agric Res. 2007;5(1):1-3.
14. Roy F, Boye JI, Simpson BK. Bioactive proteins and peptides in pulse crops: pea, chickpea and lentil. Food Res Int. 2010;43(2):432-442.
15. Sharma A, Nakul HT, Jelgeri BR, Surwenshi A. Effect of micronutrients on growth, yield, and yield components in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.). Res J Agric Sci. 2010;1(2):142-144.
16. Singh S, Saini SS, Singh B. Yield, quality, nutrient content, and uptake in late-sown chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) as influenced by irrigation, sulphur, and seed inoculation levels. Haryana J Agron. 2003;20(1/2):46-48.
17. Solaiman ARM. Influence of Rhizobium inoculant, nitrogen, and boron on nodulation, dry weight, and grain yield of chickpea. Ann Bangladesh Agric. 1999;9:75-84.
18. Venkatesh MS, Basu PS. Effect of foliar application of urea on growth, yield, and quality of chickpea under rainfed conditions. J Food Legumes. 2011;24(2):110-112.
19. Prasad FM, Chandra A, Verma MM. Growth, yield, dry matter, and nutrient uptake by mustard in alluvial soil as influenced by phosphorus and organic matter. New Agriculturist. 2012;2(1):31-34.
20. Puniya SS, Singh BP, Kumar S. Production potential and returns of mustard intercropping system under rainfed condition of Haryana. Indian J Agron. 2015;59(3):514-517.