Chickpea pod infertility: a potential of improving seed yield

Non-Peer ReviewedChickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is being rapidly adapted to the semiarid Canadian prairies, but little is known about morphological responses of this annual legume to growing conditions. This study, conducted in southwestern Saskatchewan, examined the morphological plasticity of three market classes of chickpea by growing the crop at four plant population densities. Chickpea grown at the high (50 plants m-2) population density produced approximately half as many fertile pods per plant as those grown at the low (20 plants m-2) density, but total number of pods per unit area increased with increasing plant population density. Large-seeded kabuli chickpea produced fewer pods per unit area, or 110 seeds for every 100 pods. The yield potential of desi and small-seeded kabuli chickpea can be increased by increasing plant population density, whereas the seed yield of large-seeded kabuli can be improved by reducing the proportion of infertile pods