Influence of different sources of nitrogen fertilizer and weed control on yield, yield components and some qualitative traits of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars under dryland conditions of Khorramabad

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate yield, yield components, and some qualitative traits of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars under nitrogen fertilizers and weed control in dryland conditions of Khorramabad during the 2017 - 2018 growing season. Treatments were arranged in split-split-plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The main factor included F1: control (without fertilizer); F2: bio-fertilizer (Rhizobium); F3: 100 % chemical fertilizer and F4: integration of bio-fertilizer + 50 % chemical fertilizer; sub-factor consisted of three cultivars of chickpea (Adel, Mansour, and Arman) and sub-sub-factor included weeds control (weeding) and weed infested (non-weeding). The results indicated that nitrogen fertilizers, especially the integration of bio-fertilizer + 50 % chemical fertilizer, had a positive effect on all studied traits. The highest number of pods per plant, grain yield, and biological yield were obtained from the Arman cultivar with the application of bio-fertilizer + 50 % chemical fertilizer and for the same cultivar under weed control conditions. The maximum number of pods per plant (28.2) and amount of grain protein content (25.3 %) were obtained by integrating of bio-fertilizer + 50% nitrogen chemical fertilizer and weeds control. In general, the Arman cultivar has priority over other cultivars for the grain yield under Khorramabad climate conditions, and integration of bio-fertilizer + 50 % chemical fertilizer could be considered as a means to reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers for sustainable agriculture.