Assessment of Growth and Biomass Production among Different Varieties of Chickpeas in Bundelkhand Region of Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Chickpeas are the most popular pulse crop of India, popularly known as gram or Bengal gram, mainly grown in Rabi season. Chickpeas are a rich source of highly digestible dietary protein. Though the crop has huge importance, no detailed studies are available on morphological and growth parameters with reference to this crop sown in the Bundelkhand region of India. Here, we compared the plant growth and yield among different varieties of chickpea under farmer’s field conditions and screened the high yielding varieties for the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. Different varieties of chickpeas viz., Avrodhi, Subhra, Ujjwal, Red gold, Pant-G-186, JG-11, Radhey, DCP-92-3, and HK94134 were analyzed in terms of growth and morphological parameters to screen the best adaptive variety with the highest yield under rain-fed conditions of that particular region. Field evaluation based on phenological traits and biomass patterns was carried out in randomized plots with three replicates for each variety. We observed significant differences in the majority of evaluated traits among the different varieties. Although, the plant height was better in the variety “Ujjwal” altogether, “Radhey” variety was observed to have the highest pod number. The above-ground biomass was again highest in Radhey with an average of 31.77 ± 3.38 g plant-1 followed by Avarodhi (30.33 ± 2.64 g plant-1) and Subhra 19.83 ± 3.08. From the present findings, it may be concluded that variety Radhey has the highest carbon sequestration potential with the highest yield in the rain-fed conditions, followed by Avarodhi and JG-11.