نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
1. Introduction
Drought damages agricultural crops in Iran every year. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important grain legumes cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions, where rainfed production is frequently constrained by limited soil moisture and irregular rainfall distribution. Improving crop establishment and vegetative growth through appropriate planting system is considered an effective management strategy to enhance crop adaptation under rainfed conditions. Among water-saving strategies, furrow irrigation stands out as a beneficial technique for enhancing crop water productivity and achieving higher yields compared to other irrigation methods in water-scarce environments (Memon et al., 2020). Ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting (RFRH) systems are specifically employed in arid and semi-arid regions to improve soil water availability, crop yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) by modifying micro-topography to capture and store rainwater (Zhang et al., 2024). Chourasiya et al. (2018) reported that establishing chickpea using a furrow-and-ridge system, compared to flat planting, improved plant growth and significantly increased grain yield and production productivity. Similarly, a study by Patel et al. (2016) demonstrated that furrow-based planting methods, as opposed to flat planting, enhanced growth and increased both grain yield and crop residue in chickpeas. Planting system influences soil water conservation, aeration, root development, and nutrient availability, thereby affecting crop growth and physiological performance. In addition, chickpea cultivars may differ in their response to various planting systems due to genetic variability. Therefore, identifying the most suitable combination of cultivar and planting system is essential for improving chickpea growth under rainfed farming systems. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different planting systems on the morphophysiological characteristics and grain yield of chickpea cultivars and to identify suitable combinations of cultivar and planting system for improving chickpea performance under rainfed conditions.
2. Materials and Methods
The experiment was carried out during the 2023–2024 growing season at the Research Farm of the Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. The experiment was arranged as a factorial based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Experimental treatments consisted of three chickpea cultivars (Mansour, Ana, and Ata) and three planting systems including conventional flat planting, planting in 0.5-m furrows, and planting in 1-m furrows. The crop was grown under rainfed conditions, and all agronomic practices were uniformly applied throughout the growing season. Morphophysiological traits including relative water content (RWC), leaf area index (LAI), fresh plant weight, dry plant weight, number of leaflets, stem diameter, plant height, and number of secondary branches were measured at the appropriate growth stage. Data were analyzed using SAS software, and mean comparisons were performed using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at the 5% probability level.
3. Results and Discussion
The results indicated that planting system and cultivar significantly affected most of the evaluated morphophysiological traits and grain yield. Significant interactions between cultivar and planting system were also observed for several traits. Compared with conventional flat planting, both 0.5-m and 1-m furrow planting systems improved vegetative growth, resulting in greater plant height, higher leaflet number, and improved leaf area development. The highest leaf area index was recorded in the Mansour cultivar under the 1-m furrow planting system, representing approximately an 80% increase compared with the lowest value observed in the Ana cultivar grown in the 0.5-m furrow treatment. Among the tested cultivars, Mansour consistently exhibited superior vegetative performance, particularly in terms of plant height, leaf area index, and leaflet number, whereas Ana generally produced the lowest values across most planting systems.
Grain yield also responded significantly to the interaction between cultivar and planting system. The highest grain yield was obtained from the Ata cultivar under the 1-m furrow planting system, which was approximately 57.7% higher than that recorded for the same cultivar under conventional flat planting. This result indicates that the response of chickpea cultivars to furrow planting was genotype-dependent. The favorable response of Ata to the 1-m furrow system may be associated with improved soil water availability and more favorable conditions for vegetative development and assimilate accumulation under rainfed conditions. In contrast, the relatively stable performance of Mansour across different planting systems suggests greater adaptability to varying field conditions. Overall, the results demonstrate that improvements in morphophysiological traits under furrow planting can contribute to enhanced grain production, although the magnitude of this response depends on cultivar characteristics.
4. Conclusions
The findings demonstrated that planting system is an effective agronomic practice for improving morphophysiological characteristics and grain yield of chickpea under rainfed conditions. Furrow planting, particularly the 1-m furrow system, promoted better vegetative growth than conventional flat planting. Among the evaluated cultivars, Mansour showed the greatest adaptability to different planting systems and consistently produced superior morphophysiological characteristics. However, the highest grain yield was obtained from Ata under the 1-m furrow planting system, highlighting the importance of cultivar-specific responses to planting system. Therefore, the 1-m furrow planting system, combined with a suitable cultivar such as Ata for grain production or Mansour for stable vegetative performance, can be considered a promising management option for improving chickpea production under rainfed conditions similar to those of the present study.
کلیدواژهها English
