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Proceedings of the Workshop on Ascochy'ta Blight and Winter Sowing of Chickpeas (Saxena, Al. C
and Singh. K.B.. eds.). ICARDA, 4-7 May 1981. Aleppo. Syria
Chickpea Production in Lebanon
Distribution and Production
MAHMOUD B. SOLH
Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences,
American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the most important food legume crop in Lebanon.
The main chickpea producing area is in the Beqa'a Valley, though a small
hectarage can be found in various parts of Lebanon. The valley falls in the semiarid
region with a continental climate. It is at an altitude of 900 m above sea level
with average rainfall ranging from 250-600 mm. However, chickpeas are not
grown in areas where average rainfall is lower than 400 mm. Recent statistics on
total hectarage and production are not available. FAO (1977) estimated the
chickpea area to be 3000 hectares with a total production of 3000 tonnes. The
current production level does not satisfy the demand of the local market. Consequently
large quantities of chickpeas are imported, mainly from Turkey, particularly
for canning and for the one-kilogram packages of cleaned seed sold in the
retail market.
Current Production Practices
Chickpeas are grown as a spring crop in a 3-year rotation, after cereals. Land
preparation starts in early fall. Deep plowing is done, mainly with a moldboard
plow followed by using a local plow to break large clods thereby leaving a fairly
rough surface. Next, the land is cultivated to control weeds and refine the
seedbed. Planting is then done, sometime between mid-March to mid-April
depending on rainfall distribution. Planting dates are generally earlier in the
lowland coastal plains. The seed is hand broadcast at the rate of 150 kg/ha.
Phosphorus is sometimes added at the rate of 50-75 kg/ha P205 at planting time.
Seeds are covered with soil by a tractor-driven "five-bottom" Arab plow or by an
old conventional plow driven by animal powef. The crop is raised on residual
moisture. Few farmers use supplemental irrigation. Harvesting is done by hand
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