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The major factors responsible for the improved performance of the winter crop<br />
include the prevalence of a more favorable thermal regime duing its vegatative<br />
and, more importantly, reproductive phases (Tab. 3). Lower temperatures ac<br />
companied by the shorter day length protract the vegetative phase of the winterplanted<br />
crop and permit the plants to develop a vegetative frame which ensures<br />
not only a better interception of the photosynthetically active radiation (Tab. 4)<br />
early in the season but also provides more nodes which could become reproductive<br />
as soon as the inductive photoperiods become available. This also curtails he<br />
competition between the vegetative and reproductive growth, a feature which is<br />
common in spring-planted crop. The number of filled pods per unit area, therefore,<br />
increases (Tab. 1)in the winter-planted crop enabling it to give higher yields<br />
than the spring-planted crop. The significance of the relative duration of pre- and<br />
postflowering growth in affecting the morphology and economic yield in chickpeas<br />
has also been emphasized by Roberts el al. (1980).<br />
The development of a good vegetative frame early in the season and the<br />
completion of major buildup of the economic yield during the period more<br />
favorable from the stand point of thermal and moisture regimes should make a<br />
winter-planted crop more stable in yield than the conventional spring-planted<br />
crop which develops in an environment of increasing moisture and thermal stress.<br />
Also, since a considerable proportion of the total phytomass of a winter-plamed<br />
crop is produced during the period when the evaporative demand of the atmosphere<br />
is relatively low, such a crop can be extended to nonconventional areas<br />
experiencing relatively lesser rainfall than the traditional chickpea-growing<br />
areas. Thus, the winter planting of chickpeas can provide yet another cropping<br />
alternative to the farmers of dry areas.<br />
Table 4<br />
Plant growth of winter (Nov 30, 1980) and spring (Feb 22, 1981) planted ILC 482 chickpea at Tel<br />
Hadya, evaluated on Apr 9, 1981 when the winter crop started flowering. Photosynthetically active<br />
radiation (PAR) interception by the same on May 19, 1981 when winter crop was at advanced<br />
podding stage and spring crop at early podding.<br />
Character Winter crop Spring crop<br />
Dry weight per plant<br />
Leaves (g) 1.561 ±0.212 0.210±0.038<br />
Stem (g) 1.307±0.184 0.135±0.018<br />
Roots (g) 0.586±0.118 0.075 ±0.011<br />
Nodule (mg) 69.7 ±2.62 56.6± .1.91<br />
Leaf area/plant (cm 2 ) 454.5 ±73.4 73.0± 14.7<br />
Root volume/plant (cm 2 ) 7.45± 1.06 1.75±0.15<br />
PAR interception (%) 77.9 ± 3.55 58.4± 3.38<br />
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