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Major Factors Limiting Increased Production
1. Chickpea is grown mostly on poor soils under nonirrigated conditions and
hardly 10% of the area is irrigated.
2. Seasonal constraint: Most of the chickpea crop depends on the conserved
moisture of monsoon rains. Rainfall in the country is unpredictable and
erratic, so the crop suffers sometimes due to moisture stress, and excessive
moisture in other years.
3. It is highly risky and unassured crop because of high incidence of diseases
and pests like wilt, blight, stem rot, foot rot and Botrytis and pod borers.
4. A lack of suitable genotypes responsive to increased use of irrigation and
fertilizers.
5. Non-availability of seed of high-yielding cultivars.
6. Economics of production of chickpea under maximum input conditions does
not compare very favorably with the competing wheat crop.
7. Lack of efficient Rhizobium strains for effective symbiosis and competition
with native flora where chickpea is cultivated year after year.
Cultural Practices
Chickpea is grown in the winter season in India. Sowings start in October. The
growing season temperatures are higher in South India as compared with North
India, thus ihe growing period in southern India is comparatively shorter.
Land Preparation
Generally farmers give insufficient attention to soil moisture conservation during
the monsoon season. With the increase in intensity of cropping, some area of
chickpea is also grown after sorghum, maize and pearl millet. The seed bed
preparation in this cropping system is done either after the rain is received or
after an irrigation, where facilities are available. The crop is also grown after
paddy on residual moisture. It is generally grown as a sole crop under rainfed
conditions on the sandy and sandy-loam soils in northern India or on deep black
soils in the South. Sometimes it is also .grown mixed with wheat, barley, rapemustard,
rocket (Eruca sativa) and sorghum. This mixed cropping is a sort of
insurance in rainfed agriculture against extremes of environmental conditions
which can cause complete crop loss. It also helps in reducing losses due to
diseases.
Seed Source
The farmers mostly use the local seed grown on their own fields. But some
farmers also procure certified seed of the approved cultivars from the Regional
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