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12
International Yield Trials
A 10-entry trial was distributed to cooperators in 1979, for planting in the winter
season. The results from nine locations are shown in Table 3. The cultivar ILC
482 performed well at most of the sites, whereas the local check cultivar, supplied
by the cooperators, was ranked in the lower half of the entries in seven of
the sites. Trial mean yields in the order of 3000 kg/ha were recorded in Lebanon,
Algeria and Morocco, indicating a very high yield potential from winter sowing
in these countries. The data from Lattaquieh and Gelline in Syria, and Larissa in
Greece also revealed a yield potential in excess of 2000 kg/ha for certain of the
best entries.
This trial was enlarged to 20 entries in the 1980/81 season and has been
distributed to a total of 44 locations in 17 countries. Ev,.n the distribution of this
number of trials met only 80% of the requests, and provides a good indication of
the amount of interest being showr in winter planting by cooperators in the
region.
Disadvantages of Winter Chickpeas
In spite of the many advantages of winter over spring sowing (e.g., better plant
establishment and nodulation, less damage from birds and insects and the possibility
of extending the crop into drier regions) a number of problems still exist.
As stressed above, ascochyta blight contol is of paramount importance. If this
is to be achieved through resistant cultivars it is essential that seed production is
handled carefully. No mixtures of resistant and susceptible cultivars can be
tolerated in seed production programs and it is essential that no mistake be made
with respect to cultivar identification. It is also highly desirable that any resistant
cultivar released to farmers be identifiable from its seed and plant
characteristics.
The normal spring-planted crop is comparatively weed-free. The winter rains
enable most of the weed seeds to germinate, but these are destroyed by spring
cultivation prior to planting. It may still be possible to achieve good control by
waiting for the first rains to germinate the weeds in the autumn and a cultivation
at that time can greatly reduce the problem, as is the practice in other wintersown
legumes such as lentils. However, hand weeding in spring is normally
necessary in lentils and this is likely to be the case in chickpeas too. A number of
herbicides that can be used selectively in winter chickpeas have been identified
and many farmers may find it economic to use such chemical weed control
measures.
Chickpeas are sensitive to waterlogging and it is essential that fields chosen
for winter sowing are free-draining nd do not allow any standing water.
A problem which has been frequently encountered in conducting trials on