Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Quality and Nutrient Uptake by Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is the most dominant pulse (Grain Legume crop) having a share of around 40 per cent in the general production. It is predominantly a crop of low rainfall areas but gives good yield under irrigated conditions also. Excessive rain soon after sowing or at flowering can harm the crop. It is a highly nutritious pulse and places third in the importance list of the food legumes. It contains 25% proteins, which is the maximum provided by any pulse. In chickpea, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, crop meets up to 80% of the soil’s nitrogen needs, so farmers have to apply less nitrogen fertilizer than they do for other non-legume crops. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications and by taking four treatments of RDF i.e. F1-100%NPK, F2-75%NPK, F3-50% NPK through inorganic and F4-Control as factor 1 in main plot and three treatments of biofertilizer i.e. BF1-FYM (7.5t ha-1) + Azospirillum (5 kg ha-1) + PSB (5 kg ha-1), BF2 Rhizobium (1.5 kg/ha + FYM (7.5 t/hac) +PSB (5 kg ha-1) and BF3-PSB + 3.75t/ha Vermicompost+ PSB (5Kg/ha). Highest grain yield is of F1 (2046.22 kg/ha) and BF3 (1842.35 kg/ha) in RDF and biofertilizer treatment respectively. The maximum percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content was found in F1 and BF3 respectively in the grain. The maximum protein content was recorded by F1 (23.80%) and BF3 (22.89%) in the grain.