On-Farm evaluation of chickpea variety Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) under irrigated conditions in Solapur District of Maharashtra

Introduction

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important cool-season grain legumes cultivated worldwide and is a major source of dietary protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and fiber for human consumption (FAO, 2022) [3] . It plays a crucial role in sustainable agriculture due to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen through symbiotic association with Rhizobium, thereby improving soil fertility and reducing the requirement for chemical nitrogen fertilizers (Peoples et al., 2009) [13] . Chickpea is well adapted to semi-arid and arid regions because of its tolerance to drought and efficient utilization of residual soil moisture, making it suitable for both rainfed and irrigated production systems (Kumar et al., 2021) [9] . In India, chickpea constitutes a major share of rabi pulse production and significantly contributes to nutritional security and farm income, particularly for small and marginal farmers (Government of India, 2023) [4] . Therefore, improvement in chickpea productivity through the adoption of high-yielding varieties and region-specific crop management practices is essential to meet the growing demand for pulses while sustaining soil health and agricultural productivity (Ali and Gupta, 2012) [1] . Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a major pulse crop of India and Maharashtra plays a vital role in ensuring nutritional security and soil health. Solapur district, located in the rain-shadow region of the Western Maharashtra plateau, is characterized by low and erratic rainfall, making chickpea cultivation highly vulnerable to moisture stress (Patil et al., 2017) [12] . Although chickpea is traditionally grown under rainfed conditions in the district, the increasing availability of protective irrigation through dams, wells and farm ponds has encouraged farmers to adopt irrigated chickpea cultivation to stabilize yields. India contributes more than 65 per cent of the global chickpea area and production, with Maharashtra being one of the leading states (FAO, 2022) [3] . Chickpea is a leading grain crop among the crops grown in the rabi season. In the year 2023-2024 the area, production and productivity of chickpea in Maharashtra was 26.61 Lakh ha, production 28.60 Lakh tones and productivity was 1072 kg ha⁻¹ respectively. Maharashtra's share in the country's total chickpea production is 26 per cent. However, productivity in Solapur district remains below the national and state average due to terminal drought, sub-optimal varieties, and inadequate crop management (Singh et al., 2018) [14] . Improved varieties responsive to irrigation can significantly enhance yield and profitability in such semi-arid ecosystems. The chickpea variety Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405), developed by Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), Rahuri, was released in the year 2017 for the Western Cotton Zone (Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Madhya Pradesh and South Rajasthan) owing to its medium duration, Yellowish brown medium size seeds, yield potential, and resistance to Fusarium wilt and suitable for irrigated condition. Previous studies have reported that improved chickpea varieties combined with irrigation at critical growth stages can substantially improve yield and water use efficiency (Kumar et al., 2020) [8] . On-farm trials provide an effective platform to evaluate such technologies under real farming conditions and to assess their suitability for local adoption (Meena et al., 2019) [10] . However, systematic evaluation of its performance under farmers' field conditions in Solapur district is limited. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the performance of Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) under irrigated conditions in Solapur district.

Materials and Methods

The on-farm trials were conducted during the rabi season of 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 in selected villages of Solapur district, Maharashtra. The district falls under the scarcity zone and experiences a semi-arid climate with an average annual rainfall of about 550-600 mm, mostly received during the southwest monsoon. The soils of the experimental fields were medium to deep black soils with good moistureholding capacity, typical of chickpea-growing areas in Solapur (Patil et al., 2017) [12] . Two treatments were evaluated i.e. T₁: Chickpea variety Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) under recommended package of practices (irrigated) and T₂: Farmer's practice (local chickpea variety under irrigated condition). Each treatment plot covered an area of 0.4 ha and was managed by the participating farmers with technical guidance from subject matter specialist. Sowing was carried out during the first fortnight of November using a seed rate of 75 kg ha⁻¹ with a spacing of 30 × 10 cm. A basal fertilizer dose of 25:50:30 NPK kg ha⁻¹ was applied as per the recommended package of practices for chickpea (MPKV, Rahuri 2020) [11] . Integrated weed management included application of pre-emergence weedicide i.e. Pendimethalin 2.5 Liter ha⁻¹ followed by hand weeding at 25-30 days after sowing. For controlling weed and moisture conservation hand hoeing was done at 20 days after sowing and at 30 days after sowing. Irrigation was provided through sprinkler at critical growth stages, namely branching, flowering, pod formation, and pod filling stages. Supplemental irrigation during these stages is known to significantly improve chickpea productivity under semi-arid conditions (Kumar et al., 2020) [8] . Observations on growth parameters, yield attributes, grain yield, and disease incidence were recorded using standard methodologies. Water use efficiency was calculated as grain yield per unit of total water applied, following Howell (2001) [5] . Economic analysis was performed to estimate cost of cultivation, gross returns, net returns, and benefit-cost ratio based on prevailing market prices. In the demonstration, one control plot was also kept where farmers practices was carried out. The demonstration were conducted to study the technology gap between the potential yield and demonstrated yield, extension gap between demonstrated yield and yield under existing practice and technology index. The yield data were collected from both the demonstration and farmers practice by random crop cutting method and analyzed by using simple statistical tools. The percent increase yield, technology gap, extension gap and technology index were calculated by using following formula as per Samui et al., (2000) [16] , as given below-

Results and Discussion

Growth and Yield Attributes

The Data presented in (Table 1) indicated that the on farm trials of chickpea variety Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) has given good impact. The chickpea variety Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) exhibited better vegetative growth in terms of plant height and number of branches per plant compared to the local cultivar. The average plant height of on farm trial was 46.33 cm which was significantly more than the farmers practice 41.33cm. The improved growth under irrigated conditions may be attributed to efficient utilization of moisture and nutrients, as also reported by Singh et al. (2018) [14] . The variety attained flowering and maturity slightly earlier than the farmer's variety, which is advantageous under the terminal heat stress conditions commonly observed in Solapur district. Higher yield attributes, including number of pods per plant and test weight, were recorded in Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405). The improved yield components resulted in significantly higher grain yield compared to the farmer's practice. Similar yield advantages of improved chickpea varieties under irrigated conditions have been reported by Kumar et al. (2020) [9] and Meena et al. (2019) [10] . Water use efficiency was higher in Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) due to increased grain yield per unit of water applied. Efficient water utilization is particularly important in the scarcity zone of Solapur district, where irrigation water availability is limited (Howell, 2001) [5] . Technology gap may be attributed to the variation in the soil fertility status, rainfall, water holding capacity of soil, location specific crop management problems, local weather conditions as well as the different locations of demonstration plots every year.

Extension gap

The extension gap refers to the differences between demonstration yields to existing farmer practice yields. -2). To minimize this extension gap, there is a need to educate the farmers through various extension measures like awareness camp, training and kisan goshti that can play crucial role in bridging this extension gap. The higher the profit with the adoption of improved technologies will eventually lead to the farmers discontinuance of the use of old technology and replace them with the new technology (Hiremath and Nagagaraju 2010) [7] .

Technology Index

The technology index shows the feasibility of the improved technology at the farmer's fields and the lowers the value of the technology index more is the feasibility of the technology (Jeengar et al. 2006). The data presented in Table 2 [2] and Singh et al.

Discussion

The superior performance of Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) under irrigated conditions in Solapur district can be attributed to its improved genetic potential, better response to irrigation, and tolerance to local biotic and abiotic stresses. Irrigation at critical stages ensured continuous moisture availability, leading to improved flowering, pod development, and seed filling, as also emphasized by Kumar et al. (2020) [8] . The consistency of performance across farmers' fields highlights the adaptability and suitability of the variety for large-scale adoption in the district.

Conclusion

The on-farm trials conducted in Solapur district clearly demonstrated that chickpea variety Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) is well suited for irrigated conditions of the scarcity zone. The variety recorded higher yield, better water use efficiency, and superior economic returns compared to the farmer's cultivar. Adoption of Phule Vikrant (Phule G-0405) along with recommended irrigation scheduling and integrated crop management practices can significantly enhance chickpea productivity and farm income in Solapur district of Maharashtra.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementKrishi Vigyan Kendra, Mohol, Dist. Solapur is thankful to the Director, ICAR-ATARI, Zone VIII, Pune, Director, Extension Education, MPKV Rahuri for excellent technical, administrative, and financial assistance for conducting the on farm trials and farmers who always show faith in the Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

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