CROP-WISE PULSE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
CHICKPEA OR BENGAL-GRAM(Cicer Arietinum LINN.)
Soil or climatic requirements

Chickpea thrives best on well-drained,coarse-textured/loamy soils,but also grows fairly well in black cotton solis or medium clay soils.It can also grow successfully in poor soils which cannot sustain other major cereals or commercial crops.It can stand a wide range of soil pH (5.5-8.6) but is very sensitive to saline and alkali soils.Waterlogging also adversely affects this crop.Experience has shown that well-drained clay loams with adequate moisture-retention capacity are the best for getting higher yields in chickpea

Tillage
In large areas,chickpea is sown after the monsoon on fallow lands.The soil moisture is conserved through appropiate field operations,like a deep ploughing followed by 2 or 3 harrowings and removal of all weeds and stubble of the preceding crop.Chickpea does not require fine tilling but the soil should be well-opened and loosened for better aeration.This will have a remarkable effect on the reduction of wilt incidence and better yield performance.Deep tillage up to a depth of 25 cm during July and August will have substantial effect on better root development,moisture conversation and crop yields

Choice of varieties

1.North-western Zone	: (Punjab,Haryana,Western Uttar Pradesh,  Rajasthan,Himachal Pradesh,Jammu and Kashmir)  'C 214', 'C 235', 'H 208', 'H 355', 'G 130'  'G 543', 'RS 10', 'RS 11', 'RSG 2', 'GL 769',  'GNG 146', 'Pusa 209', 'Pusa 212',  'Pusa 261', 'Pusa 408', 'Gaurav', 'K 850',  'Radhey', 'Hare Chhole 1', 'L 550', 'L 144'
2.North-eastern Zone	: (Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa   West Bengal, Assam)  'K 469', 'K 850', 'JG 74', 'K 4','K 5', 'T 3',  'Pant G 114', 'G 24', 'BR 77', 'BR 78',  'Radhey', 'BR 168', 'Pusa 209', 'Pusa 240', 'Pusa 256',  'Pusa 413', 'B 110', 'B115', 'ST 4',  'C 235', 'Avrodhi', 'L 550'
3.Central Zone	: (Madhya Pradesh, Gujurat, Maharashtra)  'JG 62', 'JG 74', 'JG 221', 'JG 315', 'JG 5'  'Annigeri', 'Ujjain 21', 'U 24', 'Gwalior 3',  'Dohad Yellow','Chaffa','BDN 9-3', 'T 3',  'H 355', 'N 31', 'N 59', 'Vikas', 'D 8',  'Pusa 209', 'Pusa 244', 'Pusa 212',  'Pusa 417', 'Pusa 256', 'ICCC 4', 'L 550'
4.Peninsular Zone	: (Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu)  'Annigeri', 'BDN 9-3', 'Chaffa',  'Col 1', 'Co 2', 'ICCC 4', 'JG 74',  'Jyothi', 'Radhey'

Seeding technique
The best time for sowing is during mid-October with the onset of cool weather when the daily average temperature is around 25.C.If winter is del-ayed,sowing can also be delayed with advantage up to the first week of November in the northern region;however, in the central,western and south-ern regions,sowinfg need to be completed by the middle of October. Earlier sown crop suffers form wilt disease owing to higher temperatures at sowing time .Early sowing therefore,gives poor yield.The optimum time for sowing Kabuli type is the last week of October.As an unirrigated crop chickpea is normally grown after monsoon fallow or after the harvest of kharif crop utilizing the residual moisture left in the soil.It is taken either as a sole crop or as an intercrop with wheat, barley or mustard.Depending upon the seed size the recommended seed rates are 60-75 kg/ha and 80-100 kg/ha for deshi and Kabuli types, respectively.Chickpea may be sown in rows keeping the row-to-row spacing between 25 and 30
cm.To ensure seed placement in moist zone,pora may be attached to the country plough.
If the crop is planted under dryland condition,the seeding at a depth of 10-15 cm is beneficial on two accounts.First the seedling takes moisture from deep strata of the soil and secondly the root system escapes the zone where fungus causing wilt is concentrated .Under irrigated conditions,seeding at a depth of 5 cm may be maintained, though deeper sowing
is still preferred.

Application of fertilizers
Application of 10 kg nitrogen along with 20-30 kg P₂O₅/ha, generally increases the yield of the unirrigated crop over a wide range of conditions.When sown after kharif fallow nitrogen may not be applied.When chickpea is sown under irrigated conditions,the dose of phosporous should be 40-50 kg of P₂O_5/ ha.If chickpea succeeds crops,like maize or sorghum,nitrogen should be applied @ 20kg/ha.Phosporous may be given through single superphosphate, which is a better carrier.Response of the irrigated crop to 33.6 and 67.2 kg P₂O₅/ha is about 2.6 and 4.5 q/ha of grain respectively with an average yield of 11.5 q/ha in the control (no manure) plots.To obtain a good response to applied fertilizers,moisture conversation practices may be adopted.Fertil-izer should be applied by drilling in moist layers of the soils for their full utilization.It is advisable to place the phosphaticfertilizer 3 to 5 cm.below the seed rather than broadcast the fertilizer.

Weed control
One hand-weeding 45 days after sowing has been found to be the best. Where the land is infested with a variety of weeds, 2 weeddings at 30 and 60 days afte sowing could be done depending upon the conditions of the field. Where chickpea is grown on large areas, use of herbicides could be made. Basalin @ 1.0 kg ai/ha gives results.The alternative herbicides are Stomp (0.75 kg ai/ha) or Ronstor (1.5 kg ai/ha).