Short duration chickpea to replace fallow after Aman rice: the role of on-farm seed priming in the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh

Musa, A M and Harris, D and Johansen, C and Kumar, J (2001) Short duration chickpea to replace fallow after Aman rice: the role of on-farm seed priming in the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh. Experimental Agriculture, 37 (4). pp. 509-521. ISSN 0014-4797

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Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a promising post-wet-season crop to follow rainfed rice (Oryza sativa) in the High Barind Tract of northwestern Bangladesh. Yields in farmers' fields, however, remain low (<1 t ha-1) primarily due to factors such as poor crop establishment, late sowing, and terminal drought and heat stress. Having been shown to improve plant stand and yield of chickpea in other environments, seed priming - soaking the seed overnight before surface drying and sowing the next day - of chickpea cv. Barichola-2 was tested for its efficacy under Barind conditions. In the 1998-99 season, 30 trials, grown entirely on residual soil moisture were conducted in farmers' fields in districts of Rajshahi and Nawabganj. A statistically significant mean yield response to priming of 47% was obtained. In 1999-2000, 105 on-farm trials (in Rajshahi, Nawabganj, Noagaon and Niamatpur) and 15 demonstrations (in Godagari) comparing presence and absence of priming were conducted. The crop received rain during this growing season. In a randomly chosen subset of 35 trials, scientists recorded a mean yield increase due to priming of 20%; it was 22% (from 1.02 to 1.25 t ha-1) in the remaining 64 trials (6 of the 105 trials were abandoned) where farmers recorded yields. Using a different cultivar (Barichola-5), the mean yield response to priming in 15 demonstrations was 17% (from 1.25 to 1.46 t ha-1). The priming response was attributed mainly to rapid seedling establishment, with higher plant stand and earlier crop maturity allowing escape from end-of-season stresses. Priming also reduced the incidence of stem and root diseases, and increased nodulation by native rhizobia. This simple technology can substantially increase chickpea yields to remunerative levels for the resource-poor farmers in this difficult environment. Furthermore, it is suggested that this technology can act as a catalyst for the introduction of further technologies that will permit reliable and profitable cultivation of post-rainy-season crops and thus improve the livelihoods of the rural population

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Subjects:	Mandate crops > Chickpea
Depositing User:	Ms K Syamalamba
Date Deposited:	06 Dec 2011 06:37
Last Modified:	06 Dec 2011 06:37
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/4798
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0014479701000448
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	Department for International Development
Acknowledgement:	The authors wish to acknowledge the support and cooperation provided by Dr M. Matiur Rahman, Mr A. K. M. Ha®zur Rahman, Dr M. Shahjahan, Mrs Monika Mannan, Mr Paul Rozario, Mr S. S. Wahidun Nabi and the farmer-cooperators of this project. Mr M. Irshad Ahmed drew the Barind Map. This document is an output from projects (Plant Sciences Research Programme R6395 & R7540) funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and administered by the Centre for Arid Zone Studies (CAZS) for the bene®t of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID
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