Ss. Parihar, EFFECT OF PLANT AND ROW SPACING ON DRYLAND GRAM (CICER-ARIETINUM) YIELD, NODULATION AND WATER-USE EFFICIENCY, Indian Journal of Agronomy, 41(4), 1996, pp. 604-607
A field experiment was conducted from 1986-87 to 1988-89 with dryland
gram or chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to rind out effect of inter- and
intra-row spacings on yield, nodulation and water-use efficiency. The
chickpea was seeded during winter season of 1986-89 on sandy soil at
Kharagpur in row spacings of 20, 35 and 50 cm and within row spacings
of 10, 15 and 20 cm. The yields were least from the 20 cm row width. H
owever intra-row spacings had no significant effect on seed yield. Und
er adequate water supply wider rows did not show any yield advantage o
ver narrow rows. Wider row spacings helped in increasing the dry weigh
t of nodule/plant. Soil water depletion was generally confined to 80 c
m soil depth. The water use was not significantly influenced by plant
spacing, however it was more with 20 cm spacing. Water-use efficiency
was minimum for 20 cm row spacing. Results on water-use indicated that
close planting enhanced water use before flowering. This increased ea
rly-season water utilization under restricted water supply created les
s water available for grain filling, and ultimately seed yield was red
uced significantly.