Effects of Supplementary Drip Irrigations Applied in Different Growth Stages on Yield and Yield Components of Chickpea Plants Grown Under Semiarid Climate Conditions

Chickpea is an irreplaceable source of protein in several regions of the world. Present experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of supplementary irrigations at different growth stages on yield and yield components of chickpea plants grown in arid and semi-arid regions with deficit water resources. Seven different irrigation treatments (I₁, without irrigation (rain-fed); I₂, single irrigation before flowering; I₃, single irrigation at the beginning of flowering; I₄, single irrigation at 50% pod-set period; I₅, two irrigations at 50% flowering +50% seed-fill periods; I₆, two irrigations before flowering +50% pod-set periods; I₇, full-irrigation) were applied out in Central Anatolia (Turkey) for two years. Experiments were implemented in randomized blocks design with three replications. Average plant water consumption of I₁ and I₇ treatments were respectively measured as 237.5 and 543.5 mm, and the amount of applied irrigation water as 13.5 and 320.5 mm. Biomass yields increased with increasing irrigation water quantities, and the highest biomass yield (9128.4 kg ha⁻¹) was obtained from I₇ treatments. Harvest index (HI) values varied between 21.9% (I₇)–36.0% (I₄). Crop water productivity (CWP) and irrigation water productivity (IWP) reached their maximums in I₄ treatments (2.01 and 0.73 kg m⁻³). Average yield values of I₁, I₂, I₃, I₄, I₅, I₆, and I₇ treatments were respectively found as 1178.5, 1365.5, 1822.5, 2411.5, 1909.5, 1924.5, and 1866.5 kg ha⁻¹. Plant height and the first pod heights increased with increasing irrigation water quantities. The number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, and 1000-seed weights also varied significantly with irrigation water quantities.