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Yield Performance of Improved Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) Varieties under Pure Stand and Banana Intercrop Methods in Semi-Arid Agroecological Zone of South Western UgandaDOI: 10.4236/oalib.1104089, PP. 1-6 Subject Areas: Biochemistry Keywords: Chickpea, Cropping System, Varieties, Yields 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 < 0.05) than that obtained
from banana-intercrop. This implies that competition with banana for moisture,
nutrient and light significantly suppressed the yielding potential of chickpea
in the banana intercrop.
Muzira, R. , Kankwatsa, P. and Byenkya, S. (2018). Yield Performance of Improved Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) Varieties under Pure Stand and Banana Intercrop Methods in Semi-Arid Agroecological Zone of South Western Uganda. Open Access Library Journal, 5, e4089. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1104089. References
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