Impact of cultivar, row spacing and seeding rate on ascochyta blight severity and yield of chickpea

Abstract

Field trials to assess the impact of chickpea type (desi vs. kabuli), row spacing and seeding rate on ascochyta blight of chickpea were conducted over 2 yr at Brooks, Alberta. A compound-leaved desi chickpea cultivar and unifoliate kabuli cultivar were sown at 20, 30 and 40 cm row spacing, and at three seeding rates (20, 40 and 60 seeds per 3 m row). Most of the variation in disease severity was associated with differences between the cultivars. Seeding rate, row spacing and their interactions had substantially smaller effects on ascochyta blight in comparison with cultivar effects. Late in the growing season, blight severity was consistently lower in the desi than the kabuli cultivar. Wide row spacing and low seeding rate reduced ascochyta blight severity and increased seed yield per plant. Wide row spacing in the first year reduced the seed yield per hectare, but row spacing did not significantly affect yield in 2005. Low in-row seeding rates increased yield only in 2004. There was a positive linear relationship between plant density and blight severity, and a negative relationship between yield per plant and both plant density and disease severity. We conclude that reduced plant population density could be one tool in a program to manage ascochyta blight of chickpea. Key words: Cicer arietinum, plant population density, ascochyta blight, yield