Effect of Row Spacing and Gibberellic Acid on Growth and Yield of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under Rainfed Conditions

A field experiment on chickpea was conducted during Rabi, 2021 at Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, SHUATS, Prayagraj (U.P). INDIA. The soil of the experimental plot was sandy loam in texture, nearly neutral in soil reaction (pH 6.9), organic carbon (0.71%), available N (273.54 kg/ha), available P (31.14 kg/ha), and available K (327 kg/ha). The treatments comprised of spacing (25cm x 10cm, 35cm x 10cm, 45cm x 10cm), and foliar application of Gibberellic acid (15, 30, & 45ppm/ha). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with nine treatments each replicated three times. The results showed that viz: Plant height (68.91 cm), number of branches per plant (28.19), plant dry weight (27.48 g/plant) were recorded significantly higher with 35 x10 cm + GA3 45ppm/ha. Whereas, crop growth rate (17.68 g/m2/day), relative growth rate (0.023 g/g/day) recorded higher in 25 x 10cm + GA3 30ppm/ha. Number of pods per plant (60.04), number of seeds per pod (1.93), seed yield (246.67 kg/ha), haulm yield (5064.53 kg/ha) were recorded significantly higher.

Higher gross returns (1,08,022.50 ₹/ha), net returns (75,676.47 ₹/ha), and benefit-cost ratio (3.33) were obtained with the application of 35 x10 cm + GA3 45ppm/ha. Thus, spacing with foliar application of Gibberellic acid (15,30 and 45ppm) could be a promising option for yield enhancement in chickpea.