Chickpea yields as effected by irrigations at different growth stages

Irrigation is the most significant input to improve the yields in agricultural production activities. Crop water requirements vary based on growth stages and irrigations at different stages have different effects on plant growth and development.  The present research  was carried out  to investigate the effects of irrigations applied at different growth stages on chickpea yields. Experiments were conducted  over the experimental fields of Agricultural Research and Implementation Center of Erciyes University in randomized blocks design with 3 replications. A total of 7 different irrigation  treatments were applied in experiments (T1 = rainfed, T2: pre-bloom single irrigation, T3: single irrigation at the beginning of blooming, T4: single irrigation at 50% pod set, T5: two irrigations at 50% bloom and 50% pod-set, T6: two irrigations at pre-bloom and 50% pod-set,  T7: full irrigation).  Amount of irrigation water applied to treatments ranged from  87.1  to 308  mm.  On the other hand, crop  water consumptions ranged from 213(T1) to 518(T7) mm. While the highest yield (179.9 kg/da) was observed in T4 treatment, the smallest yield (89.7 kg/da) was observed in T1 treatment. It was concluded  based on present findings that irrigations at different growth stages significantly improved chickpea yields.