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Proceedings ofthe Workshop anAscochyta Blight and Winter Sowing ofChickpeas (Saxena, M.C.
and Singh. KB., eds.). ICARDA, 4-7 May 1981, Aleppo, Syria
Prospects and Potential of Winter Sowing of
Chickpeas in the Mediterranean Region
G.C. HAWTIN and K.B. SINGH
Program Leader, Food Legume Improvement Program, ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria-
Chickpea Breeder (ICRISAT), ICARDA, Aleppo, respectively.
A joint contribution from ICARDA and 1CRiSAT centers.
Chickpea is the fifth most important grain legume crop after soya beans, grounduts,
dry beans and dry peas. The major area of production is in the Indian
subcontinent (Bangladesh, Burma, India and Pakistan) where small, angular,
dark-seeded chickpeas, known as desi types, predominate. In this region, and also
in Ethiopia, chickpeas are normally sown at the end of the summer rains and are
raised on residual soil moisture. The chickpeas grown in the Mediterranean
basin, which comprises the countries of southern Europe, western Asia and
northern Africa, usually have larger, more rounded, buff- coloured seeds and are
referred to as kabuli types. They are normally planted in the spring (February -
May) and are largely raised on residual soil moisture, since in the typical Mediterranean
environment rainfall occurs almost exclusively in winter.
Thus, with a few exceptions, for example the irrigated crop in the Nile Valley
of Egypt and Sudan, chickpeas are almost universally raised under a diminishing
soil moisture supply, with rarely any significant precipitation during the growing
season. Limited available moisture may restrict yields, and delayed planting can
also result in the reproductive phase of growth (a particularly sensitive stage of
phenological development) coinciding with increasing, and possibly limiting
temperatures.
In the Mediterranean region the two other main food legume crops, faba beans
(Viciafaba) and lentils (Lens culinaris),are normally planted in the autumn or
early winter, at least in the lower or medium elevation areas. Germination and
plant establishment take place before the onset of the coldest weather and
vegetative growth occurs rapidly when temperatures rise again in the spring. By
contrast, chickpeas are normally sown only when the land becomes available in
early spring and thus the entire plant development takes place under conditions
of increasing temperature, daylength and aridity. Lentils or faba beans mature in
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