Effect of Municipal Solid Waste Compost and Supplemental Irrigation on Morphological Traits, Yield and Yield Components of Dryland Chickpea

In order to evaluate the effects of supplementary irrigation and municipal solid waste compost on growth and yield of two chickpea cultivars under dryland condition, a field experiment was arranged in Khoramabad, Iran, in 2008-2009. The experimental design was split-split plots with randomized complete blocks with three replications. Four levels of irrigation as main plot including dryland (as control), supplementary irrigation at flowering stage, grain filling stage, and flowering + grain filling stages, three levels of municipal waste compost (0, 10 and 15 t/ha) as sub-factors, and Greet and Filip chickpea cultivars as sub-sub factors were considered. Results showed that the highest number of branches (14.08), number of pods per plant (32.37), plant height (37.25 cm), 1000-grain weight (282 g), grain yield (1475 kg/ha) and biological yield (4155 kg/ha) were obtained from supplementary irrigation at flowering+ grain filling stages. Greet cultivar had more yield in supplementary irrigation treatments and the highest yield in all stages was obtained from application of 15 t/ha compost. The conclusion of this research was that application of 15 t/ha compost along with supplemental irrigation and proper cultivar will result in higher yield in chickpea cultivars under dryland conditions.