Effect of drought stress and planting method on some physiological and biochemical characteristics of two chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars

In order to evaluate the effects of drought stress and planting method on some physiological and biochemical characteristics of two chickpea cultivars (Cicer arietinum L.) an experiment was conducted at the research station of College of Agriculture, Shiraz University using a split factorial based on randomized complete block design in four replications. The main factor was stopping irrigation at different growth stages of chickpea (full irrigation=I1, flowering=I2 and two weeks after emergence =I3) and the sub-factor included a combination of pea varieties (Arman and Azad) and sowing methods (planting on ridges, furrow and basin), respectively. Results showed that under drought stress, leaf area index, stomatal conductance, photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll a and b and total chlorophyll content decreased while proline content increased. The cultivar Azad had higher than to Arman, leaf area index, stomatal conductance, photosynthesis rate and chlorophyll. The highest photosynthesis rate obtained under full irrigation treatment (16.09µmol m-2s-1) and it’s reduced to 25.79 and 14.23 percent under water stress in I3 and I2 treatments respectively. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the cultivar of Azad is suitable for this region and it is suggested to be planted on the ridge as has higher photosynthesis rate and lower stomatal conductance reduction leading to a higher yield.