Chickpea response to time of sowing – Riverina 2018

Take home message

  • The highest average grain yields were achieved with a late April to mid-May sowing date.
  • There was an interaction between sowing date and variety for grain yield.
  • PBA Slasher, PBA Striker and CICA1521 were consistently amongst the highest yielding varieties across all three sites.
  • The lower average yields at Yanco Agricultural Institute and Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute (when compared to Leeton Field Station) were largely attributed to limited pre-sowing moisture and low in-crop rainfall.

Background

There were three chickpea experiments established in the Riverina during the 2018 growing season. The three sites included Leeton Field Station (LFS), Yanco Agricultural Institute (YAI) and Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute (WWAI).

The object of these experiments was to identify the optimum sowing date that maximises yield potential by ensuring that critical growth phases such as flowering and podding do not coincide with abiotic stresses such as frost, drought and heat. The aim of these experiments was to determine the optimum sowing date for chickpeas by identifying the phenological drivers of crop development and grain yield.

Low temperatures during flowering and podding affected flower and pod abortion and ultimately yield. Chickpeas tend to abort pods at mean daily temperatures below 15°C. Variety selection and sowing date are management tools used to minimise the impact of low temperatures during the reproductive stage of chickpea production.

These experiments are part of a series of ongoing pulse experiments sown in central and southern NSW with the aims to:

  • identify the phenological drivers of chickpeas and lentils in southern and central NSW,
  • determine variety response to sowing date across varying climatic zones, and;
  • determine optimal genotype and sowing date combinations.

Table 1. Details of the experimental sites at the Leeton Field Station (LFS), Yanco Agricultural Institute (YAI) and Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute (WWAI).

Location

LFS

YAI

WWAI

Soil type

Brown Chromosol

Brown Chromosol

Red Chromosol

pHca

6.4 (10cm)

6.0 (10cm)

5.9 (10cm)

Previous crop

Barley

Bare fallow

Barley

Fertiliser

Zero

80kg/ha of Energiser Plus

(N 13.5: P 13.5: K 0.0: S 9.5)

100kg/ha of Granulock® Z Soygran

(N 5.5: P 15.3: K 0.0: S 7.5)

Pre-sowing watering

220mm (flood)

77mm (overhead)

Zero

In-crop watering

24mm (overhead)

64mm (overhead)

10mm (overhead)

Growing season rainfall

87mm

87mm

152mm

Trial design

There were 32 treatments with three reps at each location. The treatments included eight varieties sown at four different sowing dates.

Varieties

The eight chickpea varieties included five desi and three kabuli varieties at each site. The desi varieties included PBA Boundary, PBA Striker, PBA Slasher, CICA1521 and Neelam. The kabuli varieties included Genesis™079, Genesis™090 and Kalkee.

Sowing dates

There were four sowing dates (SD) at each location:

  • SD1: 16 April 2018
  • SD2: 30 April 2018
  • SD3: 14 May 2018
  • SD4: 28 May 2018

Results and discussion

Duration of growth phases

The average time to emergence across the three experiments ranged from 6 to 11 days in SD1 and increased to 24 to 26 days in SD4 (data not shown). The longer the delay in sowing, the longer it took for the plants to emerge. Chickpeas require a minimum threshold of approximately 115 growing degree days (GDD) to emerge, and this took longer to satisfy in the experiments of later sowing dates, as temperatures dropped in late autumn (Whish 2016; GRDC GrowNotes™ 2017).

Time taken to reach ‘early flowering’ varied between experiments with the average time for SD1 at YAI taking 106 days while the average time for SD1 at WWWAI taking 147 days (Figure 1). The drier conditions at YAI resulted in that site reaching ‘early flowering’ 54 days earlier than at the WWAI site. Moisture stress at the YAI experiment also induced varietal response to flowering with PBA Striker and Genesis™ 079 both reaching ‘early flowering’ in under 73 days in SD1 (data not shown).

Line graph showing the average length of time taken for eight chickpea varieties to reach the early flowering stage for four sowing dates at three different experimental sites, Yanco, Leeton and Wagga Wagga

Figure 1. Length of time taken to reach the ‘early flowering’ stage for four sowing dates at YAI, LFS and WWAI in 2018.

Flowering duration was the longest in the early sown treatments and decreased as the sowing date was delayed (Figure 2). The YAI and LFS sites flowered for 60 and 69 days, respectively in SD1 while the flowering duration at WWAI was only 35 days in SD1. Across all experiments the time to early flowering and the duration of flowering was the longest in the early sown treatments and decreased as the sowing date was delayed. The earlier and longer flowering phase meant that the early-sown treatments had a higher exposure to frost than those sown later.

Line graph showing the average duration of flowering for eight chickpea varieties sown at four different sowing dates at three different experimental sites, Leeton, Yanco and Wagga Wagga

Figure 2. Duration of flowering for four sowing dates at YAI, LFS and WWAI in 2018.

Grain yield, biomass and harvest index

The average yield across the three sites varied considerably with the pre-watered site at LFS achieving the highest average yield of 2.29t/ha. The sites at YAI and WWAI had lower average yields with 1.23t/ha and 1.28t/ha, respectively (Figures 3 and 5).

At the LFS site, the yield ranged from 1.52t/ha for Genesis™090 (SD2) to 2.85t/ha for Genesis™079 (SD3) (Figure 4). At the YAI site, the yield ranged from 0.36t/ha for Genesis™090 (SD1) to 1.86t/ha for CICA1521 (SD3) (Figure 3). At the WWAI site, the yield ranged from 1.02t/ha for Genesis™090 (SD1) to 1.57t/ha for PBA Striker (SD3) (Figure 5).

At both the LFS and WWAI sites there was a significant interaction between varieties and sowing date. At the LFS site, Genesis™090 and Kalkee achieved a significantly higher yield at SD1 compared to SD2. Alternatively, CICA 1521, Genesis™079, Neelam and PBA Boundary all achieved a higher yield at SD3 and SD4 compared to SD1. Grain yields for PBA Slasher and PBA Striker were statistically similar across all four sowing dates at LFS.

At the WWAI site, Kalkee, Neelam and PBA Slasher achieved a significantly higher yield at SD1, SD2 and SD3 compared to SD4. Alternatively, CICA1521, Genesis™090 and PBA Boundary all achieved a higher yield at SD2, SD3 and SD4 compared to SD1. Grain yields for Genesis™079 was statistically similar across all four sowing dates at WWAI.

There was a significant response with grain yield to sowing date at both the YAI and WWAI sites. The late April (SD2) and mid-May (SD3) sowing dates produced the highest yields at these sites when averaged across varieties. At LFS there was no statistical effect on grain yield with sowing date but a substantial interaction between variety and sowing date was observed.

The highest average yields from all sites was from SD3 with a corresponding flowering time of around 108 days after sowing for YAI and 125 days after sowing for WWAI (Figure 1). There were different varietal yield responses and interactions with sowing date. High grain yield was mainly due to a larger number of seeds and pods per plant, and a larger seed size. High seed number was due to a high proportion of filled pods, or fewer unfilled pods per plant.

Column bar graph showing the grain yield of eight chickpea varieties sown at four different dates at Yanco in 2018

Figure 3. Grain yield of eight chickpea varieties across four sowing dates at YAI in 2018.

Column bar graph showing the grain yield of eight chickpea varieties sown across four different sowing dates at Leeton in 2018

Figure 4. Grain yield of eight chickpea varieties across four sowing dates at LFS in 2018.

Column bar graph showing the grain yield of eight different chickpea varieties sown at four different sowing dates at Wagga Wagga in 2018

Figure 5. Grain yield of eight chickpea varieties across four sowing dates at WWAI in 2018.

LFS achieved the highest average total biomass in SD1 with 7.41t/ha which was significantly higher than all other sowing dates at LFS (Figure 6). The WWAI site also achieved the highest average total biomass in SD1 with 3.49t/ha which was significantly higher than SD3 and SD4. The YAI site achieved the highest average total biomass in SD2 with 4.31t/ha which was significantly higher than SD3 and SD4.

The WWAI site achieved the highest harvest index (HI) with 0.51 in SD4 and was significantly higher than SD1 and SD2 at WWAI (Figure 6). The LFS site also achieved the highest HI in SD4 with 0.46 which was significantly higher than SD1 and SD2. The YAI site achieved the highest HI in SD3 and SD4 with 0.41 which was significantly higher than SD1 and SD2.

Across all sites a general trend was observed with total biomass decreasing and harvest index increasing as the sowing date was delayed.

Three different graphs showing as column bars the average biomass for eight different chickpea varieties at four different sowing dates and line graph showing the average harvest index for eight different chickpea varieties for four different sowing dates on the left measured at Yanco, in the middle measured at Leeton and on the right measured at Wagga Wagga

Figure 6. Total biomass and harvest index (HI) for four sowing dates at YAI, LFS and WWAI in 2018.

Conclusion

Limited pre-sowing moisture affected plant growth, biomass accumulation and final grain yield at both the YAI and WWAI sites in 2018. The late April and mid-May sowing dates produced the highest yields at these sites when averaged across varieties. The YAI site achieved 1.38t/ha and 1.44t/ha, respectively while the WWAI site achieved 1.31t/ha and 1.38t/ha, respectively. At LFS, with a full moisture profile at sowing, a much higher biomass accumulation and final grain yield was achieved. Grain yields at LFS exceeded 2.20t/ha at all sowing dates but there was no effect on yield with sowing date.

The higher grain yields achieved in the late April and mid-May sowing dates at the YAI and WWAI sites was driven to a large extent by temperatures during flowering and podding, with lower temperatures resulting in flower and pod abortion at the mid-April sowing. Overall yield was influenced by a number of yield components such as the number of pods, filled and unfilled pods, seed number and seed weight per plant.

When averaged across sowing dates, a varietal response on grain yield was observed at all sites. The three desi varieties of PBA Slasher, PBA Striker and CICA1521 were in the highest yielding group at all sites while the two kabuli varieties of Genesis™090 and Kalkee were in the lowest yielding group at all sites.

Yield was also affected by variety and sowing time interaction at the LFS and WWAI sites. While Genesis TM 090 had a low average yield when averaged across the four sowing dates at LFS, its yield in SD1 was 2.44t/ha putting it in the highest yielding group for SD1 at LFS. CICA1521, Genesis™090, Kalkee, Neelam and PBA Boundary all demonstrated some interaction between sowing time and variety on grain yield at LFS and WWAI.

References

GRDC GrowNotes™ 2017. Plant growth and physiology. Grains Research and Development Corporation, viewed on 4 March 2019.

Whish, J. 2016. Accessing and using day degrees in field crops as a tool to assist crop management. GRDC Update Paper, Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Acknowledgements

These experiment were part of the ‘Adaptation of profitable pulses in the central and southern zones of the Northern Grains Region’ project, BLG 112, March 2018 to June 2020, a joint investment by GRDC and NSW DPI under the Grains Agronomy and Pathology Partnership. The research undertaken is made possible by the significant contributions of growers through both trial cooperation and the support of the GRDC, the author would like to thank them for their continued support.

Thank you to Michael Hately and Gabby Napier for field assessments and data collection.

Contact details

Tony Napier
tony.napier@dpi.nsw.gov.au

GRDC Project Code: BLG112,