TITLE:
Yield Performance of Improved Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) Varieties under Pure Stand and Banana Intercrop Methods in Semi-Arid Agroecological Zone of South Western Uganda
AUTHORS:
Robert Muzira, Peace Kankwatsa, Steven Byenkya
KEYWORDS:
Chickpea, Cropping System, Varieties, Yields
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
27,
2018
ABSTRACT: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is increasingly becoming an important crop in East Africa due to its desirable attributes such as high drought tolerance, nitrogen fixation, grain/seed productivity, and market potential. Chickpea is a major source of high quality protein for human diets and has potential of bridging the nutritional gap among rural households during drought periods. With the aim of improving household income in South Western Uganda, National Agricultural Advisory Services introduced several chickpea varieties between 2004 and 2007 in the zone targeting a local agro-producer processor. However, due to the limited capacity of the processor to buy all chickpea produce, most farmers abandoned the crop since there was no other alternative use or markets known. Apart from lack of market, chickpea has the potential to improve nutrition among the vulnerable rural households if its production and consumption are enhanced. Due to chickpea ability to improve soil fertility, and survive under low moisture conditions where other common crops cannot survive, it can also be a source of food especially in period when there is food scarcity. Although, Chickpea had great potential of being adopted in the region, its agronomic performance (grain yields) and adaptability to the existing cropping systems in the semi-arid zone of South Western Uganda is not known. Therefore, this research was conducted to ascertain the potential yields and appropriate cropping method, which will result into higher productivity. Farmer participatory research was conducted to assess grain yields of five improved chickpea varieties (ICCV 96329, ICCV 00305, ICCV 97105, ICCV 92318 and ICCV 00108) using banana-intercrop and pure stand cropping methods. Eighty nine farmers hosted the experiment on behalf of the community. Results indicated that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in grain yields among the chickpea varieties. However, grain yields from chickpea planted as pure stand were significantly higher (p