Impact of Different Dates of Sowing and Irrigation Levels on Chickpea Nodulation

An experiment was conducted to assess the impact of dates of sowing and irrigation levels on nodulation of chickpea (Pusa-362) during 2017-18 at GBPUA&T, Uttarakhand.Three different dates of sowing and two irrigation levels were applied.The results revealed that the sowing on 29 th November produced highest number and dry weight of nodules followed by 10 th and 24 th December.Applying irrigation twice to the crop resulted into higher number and mass of root nodules as compared to single irrigation.Relative growth rate of number and dry weight of root nodules per plant was found to be positively correlated with prevailing relative humidity while it was negatively correlated with mean temperature.Our findings on nodulation dynamics indicate inverse relation between daily temperature and chickpea root nodulation.The root nodulation is also sensitive to soil moisture and relative humidity and found to be positively correlated with these two parameters.The information from this study can be used as an important input to suggest dates of sowing and water management in chickpea.