Growth, yield attributes and grain yield of chickpea as influenced by seed priming and sowing depth under acidic soil

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of priming and sowing depth of desi chickpea variety JG-14 during rabi season of 2014-15 and 2015-16. Hydro priming and sowing of chickpea at 10 cm depth recorded significantly highest growth parameters and yield (852.73 kg/ha) followed by Mannitol (4%) priming with 10 cm sowing depth. Lowest grain yield (754.30 kg/ha) was recorded in the treatment combination, NaCl (1%) priming with 5 cm sowing depth. Study on individual effect showed that, highest values for growth parameters, yield attributes and yield was obtained with a sowing depth of 10cm while higher values of such growth and yield parameters were recorded with hydropriming. However, higher root length (9.94cm) and root dry matter (1.11 g) were obtained from the plants primed with KNO3. Higher gross return, net return and B:C ratio was obtained with hydro priming at sowing depth of 10 cm. It may therefore be inferred that the practice of seed priming with distilled water and sowing depth of 10 cm can be recommended in cultivation of chickpea for improving the yield and popularize the cultivation of chickpea in this region.