Effect of Tillage Method on Chickpea Yield in Cold Dryland Conditions

Applying a suitable tillage method is vital to chickpea production in dryland conditions. Hence, eight tillage methods were studied using strip plots in a randomized complete block design with three replications over three years at the Dryland Agricultural Research Institute in Maragheh, Iran. The amount of rainfall in the three years of the study were 202, 264 and 203 mm, respectively, which was much lower than the long-term average rainfall of 350 mm. The main plots included two primary tillage in autumn (moldboard and chisel plow) and subplots comprised four secondary methods before sowing (disk harrow, leveler, rotary hoe and conventional broadcasting + disk harrow). The characteristics studied were planting depth, distance of the first pod from the ground, number of branches, pods and seeds per plant, plant height, hundred kernel weight and grain yield,as well as weed weight at two stages. The results of the combined analysis showed that primary tillage had a significant effect on the number of pods and seeds per plant and grain yield. The chisel plow, with 436 kg/ha on average, was better than the moldboard plough. Secondary tillage had a significant effect on the number of branches, pods and seeds per plant, grain yield and weed weight in the first stage. The rotary hoe had the maximum grain yield (431 kg/ha on average), however, the difference was not significant compared with the disk harrow. It can be concluded that the application of the chisel plough + rotary hoe or disk harrow can increase crop yield more than the conventional method in chickpea production.