Organic Cultivation of Chickpea in India Grown in Vertisol

Abstract: A field experiment was conducted on clay textured soil at Agricultural Research Station, Annigeri, UAS, Dharwad during rabi season of 2009-10 and 2010-11 to study the "Effect of organics on growth and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Vertisols of northern dry zone of Karnataka". The soil application of organic manures and foliar spray of liquid organic manures at flower initiation and 15 days after flowering (DAF) significantly enhanced the growth and yield parameters of chickpea viz., plant height, number of branches, Leaf Area Index, Total Dry Matter, number of root nodule and dry weight of nodules, number of pods per plant, 100-seed weight, grain yield and haulm yield. Among treatment combinations, application of enriched compost 1/3 + vermicompost 1/3 + glyricidia leaf manure 1/3 equivalent to 100% RDN and foliar spray of panchagavya @ 3% at flower initiation and 15 DAF has recorded significantly higher grain yield (2400 kg/ha), haulm yield (3423 kg/ha), number of pods per plant (66.38) and 100-seed weight (20.91 g) compared to other treatment combinations. While, lowest grain yield (1446 kg/ha), haulm yield (2376 kg/ha), number of pods per plant (43.91)