Effect of Supplementary Irrigation on Yield of Chickpea Genotypes in a Mediterranean Climate

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) grown across a wide range of environments, is considered one of the most drought tolerant food legume, and plays an important role in the production of sustainable agriculture mainly in the traditionally semiarid areas of Mediterranean basin, where water resources keep decreasing. Objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of supplementary irrigation on ten genotypes of chickpea crop, in order to select the most suitable ones for a sustainable agriculture in the context of scarcity of water resources. A split-plot experiment was carried out at Policoro, Southern Italy, on a sub-alkaline, silt-clay alluvial soil. The supplementary irrigation was compared with non-irrigated cultivation. The climatic conditions during the crop growing season were characterized by average temperatures higher than the normal ones during the winter months, and a remarkable drought, except in January. Three genotypes (Pa 34 and cultivars Sultano and Pascià) showed a higher yielding potential in these environmental conditions reaching values from 436 to 492 g m-2. Supplementary ir-rigation increased the yield of three genotypes only (Pa 3, Pa 21 and cv. Crema) and this re-sult can be explained with the excessive drought during the two months after the last supplementary irrigation (shrivelled seeds)