Seed Production Technology of

Gram

Scientific Name:
a) Desi gram: Cicer arietinum
b) Kabuli gram: Cicer kabulium

Family: Fabaceae

Sub family: Papiolinaceae

 Chickpea is grown in more than
50 countries in the world.
 India is the largest chickpea
producing country accounting for
67% of the global chickpea
production.
 The other major chickpea
producing countries are Pakistan,
Turkey, Iran, Myanmar, Australia,
Ethiopia, Canada, Mexico and
Iraq.
 In India, during 2014-2015, the
chickpea area was about 83.1 lakh
ha with a production of 70.03 lakh
tons and average yield of nearly
843 kg ha-1.
 Importance of Chickpea
 Chickpea is an important source of protein for millions of people in
the developing countries, particularly in South Asia.

 In addition to having high protein content (20-22%), chickpea is

rich in fiber, minerals (phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron and
zinc) and β-carotene. Its lipid fraction is high in unsaturated fatty
acids.

 Chickpea plays a significant role in improving soil fertility by

fixing the atmospheric nitrogen.

 Because of its deep tap root system, chickpea can withstand

drought conditions by extracting water from deeper layers in the
soil profile.

 Chick pea is considered to have medicinal effects as it is used for

blood purification.
 Types of chickpea
Desi chickpea: Chickpeas with colored and thick seed coat are called
desi type. The common seed colors include various shades and
combinations of brown, yellow, green and black. The seeds are
generally small and angular with a rough surface. The flowers are
generally pink and the plants show various degrees of anthocyanin
pigmentation, although some desi types have white flowers and no
anthocyanin pigmentation on the stem. The desi types account for 80-
85% of chickpea area. The splits (dal) and flour (besan) are invariably
made from desi type.

Kabuli chickpea: The kabuli type chickpeas are characterized by white

or beige-colored seed with ram’s head shape, thin seed coat, smooth
seed surface, white flowers, and lack of anthocyanin pigmentation on
the stem. As compared to desi types, the kabuli types have higher levels
of sucrose and lower levels of fiber. The kabuli types generally have
large sized seeds and receive higher market price than desi types.
 Origin

South west Asia, probably in Afghanistan and/ or

Persia

According to Aykroid and Daughty (1964) the centre of origin of

chick pea is eastern Mediterranean.

According to De Candolle, the fact that gram is a Sanskrit name

would indicate that the crop has been under cultivation in India
longer than in any other country.
 Climatic requirement
 cool season legume

 Grown as a winter crop in the tropics and as a summer or

spring crop in the temperate environments.

 It likes cool, dry and bright weather.

 Chickpea is sensitive to high as well as low temperatures at

the reproductive stage.

 Both extremes of temperatures lead to flower drop and

reduced pod set.
 Plant growth and development
Seedling emergence: Chickpea seedlings have hypogeal emergence.
Emergence occurs in 7-15 days after sowing, depending on soil temperature
and sowing depth.

Plant growth: Chickpea has an indeterminate growth habit in which

vegetative growth continues even after the start of flowering. The duration of
vegetative growth before flowering generally ranges from 40 to 80 days
depending on the variety, location, availability of soil moisture and weather
conditions.

Pollination and fertilization: Anthesis in chickpea takes place throughout the

day. Anther dehiscence occurs inside the bud 24 hrs. before the opening of the
flower. Under favorable conditions, the time taken from fertilization to the first
appearance of pod (pod set) is about 6 days.

Maturity: After pod set, the pod wall grows rapidly for the first 10 to 15 days
while seed growth occurs later. Chickpea is ready to harvest when 90% of the
stems and pods loose their green color and turn light golden yellow.
Seed production steps
 Minimum standards for foundation and certified seed
in chickpea
Parameter Seed Class
Foundation Certified
Isolation distance (m) 10 5
Number of field inspections 2 2
Germination Percentage (%) 85 85
Purity Percentage (%) 98 98
Inert material (%) 2 2
Plants affected by seed born disease 0.1 0.2
Off-type (%) 0.1 0.2
Other crop seeds (Number / kg) None 5
Other distinguishable variety seed 5 10
(Number / kg)
 Season

 Rabi crop
october

 In India sowing is done from September to November.

 Best time for seed crop is second fortnight of October.

 Late sowing (December-January) should be avoided as

the late-sown crop may experience moisture stress and
high temperatures at the critical stage of pod-filling,
leading to reduced yield and seed quality.
 Isolation requirement

 Self pollinated crop

 Pollen shedding takes place long before

petal opening.

 Isolation for Foundation seed: 10 m

Certified seed: 5 m
 Soil Type

 Chickpea can be successfully grown in a variety of soil

types including coarse-textured sandy to fine-textured
deep black soils.

 However, the best suited soils are deep loams or silty

clay loams with a pH ranging from 6.0 to 8.0.

 Saline soil and fields with a high water table are not
suitable for chickpea.
 Field Preparation
 Chickpea plants are highly sensitive to poor aeration in the soil.

 Seedling emergence and plant growth are hindered if field

surface is compact.

 The field should have loose tilth and good drainage.

 The stubble and debris from the previous crop should be

removed as these can harbor the pathogens that cause root
diseases, such as collar rot.
 Seed selection

 Good quality certified seeds should be obtained from an

authorized dealer.

 Seeds should be healthy.

 Germination percentage should be 85 % or more.

 Remove the off colour and out sized seeds.

 Seed treatment

 Two time seed treatment is required.

 Selected seeds should be treated with Trichoderma viride @ 4

gm/kg of seeds or Pseudomonas @ 10 gm/kg of seeds

 Seeds should be treated with Rhizobium culture just before

sowing
 Treated seeds should be dibbled at 7-10 cm depth at the side
of the ridges.

 The spacing maintained is 25 x 10 cm for rainfed and

30 x 10 cm for irrigated crop.

 Seed rate depends on seed size,

Seed size (100-seed weight) Seed rate (Kg / ha)

Small (less than 20 g) 50 – 60
Medium (20 – 30 g) 60 – 90
Large (30 – 40 g) 90 – 120

Extra-large (more than 40 g) 120 – 150

 Nutrient management
 Farmyard manure @ 10 – 15 tonnes/ ha, be incorporated into
the soil by ploughing.

 NPK @ 25:50:25 kg/ ha is recommended for irrigated crop,

whereas for rainfed crop it is 12.5:25:12.5 kg/ha.

Micronutrients:
Zn Basal application of ZnSO4 at 10-25 kg / ha or foliar application of
0.5% Zinc Sulfate mixed with 0.25% lime
S Soil application of 20 kg S ha-1 through single super phosphate (SSP),
gypsum or pyrite
Fe Foliar spray of 0.5% FeSO4
B Soil application of 1.0-2.5 kg Borax ha-1 or foliar application of 0.25
kg Borax ha-1
 Weed management
 Chickpea is a poor competitor with weeds at all stages of growth.

 Pre-emergence herbicides, such as Fluchloralin @ 1 kg a.i. ha-1

or Pendimethalin @ 1.0 to 1.5 kg a.i. ha-1 were found effective in
controlling early flush of weeds.

 Critical crop weed competition: upto 35 days after sowing

 Hand weeding is done on 15th and 30th day after sowing

 Irrigation
 The first irrigation is done soon after the sowing and light
irrigation is done on the third day.

 After this, irrigation should be done once in 10 – 15 days

depending upon the soil and climatic conditions.

 Water stagnation should be avoided at all growth stages.

 Irrigation during flowering and pod formation stages are

very critical.
 Important insects
Gram caterpillar (Helicoverpa armigera): Adult keep
one egg on each flower or pod and caterpillar that
emerge from each egg feed on that flower or bores into
pod and feeds on seed.

Install 4 pheromone traps / acre.

Set up 20 bird perches / acre.
Immediately after observing eggs or early instar
larvae, spray 5% NSKE or 5 ml / litre neem oil
2-3 sprays during flowering and pod formation stages
with 2.0 ml quinalphos 25 EC or 1 g Acephate or 1
ml indoxacarb /litre water.
 Management of diseases
Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum): It is a vascular disease that
causes browning and blackening of xylem. Affected seedlings first show
drooping of the leaves, then collapse. The roots look healthy but when
split vertically the vascular tissues show brown to black discoloration.
The fungus is seed and soil borne and can survive in the soil in the
absence of the host.

Management:
 Use resistant varieties (eg. JG 11, JAKI 9218, JG 130, KAK 2, JGK
1, JGK 2).
 Deep ploughing during summer and removal of host debris from the
field can reduce the level of inoculum.
 Exclude chickpea from the crop rotations in infested fields for at least
3 years.
 Seed treatment with Trichoderma viride @ 4 g kg-1 seed has been
found effective in reducing incidence of wilt.
 Management of diseases
Collar rot (Sclerotium rolfsii): It is becoming a serious problem in
central and peninsular India. High soil moisture, the presence of
under decomposed organic matter on the soil surface, low soil pH
and high temperature (25 to 30°C) favor the disease. The collar
region of the chickpea plant is constricted and begins to rot. The
affected seedlings turn yellow and wilt.

Management:
Treat seeds with fungicides, follow long term crop rotations with
cereals such as wheat, sorghum and millets, and remove
undecomposed debris from the field before sowing.
 Management of diseases
Dry root rot (Rhizoctonia bataticola): It is a serious disease under
moisture stress conditions and when the crop is exposed to
temperature above 30°C. The disease generally appears around
flowering and podding stage. The whole plant dries up and turns
straw-colored. Roots become black and brittle and have only a few
lateral roots or none at all.

Management: Follow crop rotation. Seed treatment with fungicides

can reduce initial development of the disease. Timely sowing should
be done to avoid post-flowering drought and heat stresses, which
aggravate the disease.
 Management of diseases
Ascochyta blight (Ascochyta rabiei): It is a potentially devastating
disease in northern and northwestern India where relatively low
temperatures along with wet weather prevail during the crop season.
Appearance of this disease is not regular and often depends on
winter rains. Symptoms of disease usually appear around flowering
and podding time as patches of blighted plants in the field. Typical
circular spots appear on leaves and pods, elongated lesions on stem,
and deep cankerous lesions on seeds.

Management: Use resistant varieties (eg, PBG 1, BG 267, GNG

146). Treat seed with fungicides, practice crop rotation, deep
ploughing of chickpea fields to bury infested debris and remove
remaining debris from the field. Seed treatment with carbendazim
and thiram (1:1) combined with 2-3 sprays of captan, mancozeb or
chlorothalonil @ 2-3 g L-1 water can effectively manage the disease.
 Roguing
 Roguing should be done from
vegetative phase to reproductive
phase.

 Off-types are removed .

 Maximum percentage of offtypes

permitted at final inspection is
0.10% for foundation seed
production and 0.20% for certified
seed production.
 Field inspection
A minimum of two
inspections will be done by
the Seed Certification
Officer.

 The first inspection is done

during flowering stage
followed by second in
flowering and maturity stage.
 Harvesting

 Harvesting done when leaves

become reddish brown.

 Plants are pulled out, or cut

with sickles stacked in small
heaps for a week or 2 to dry
and then threshed
 Threshing and processing
 Harvested pods along with plants are dried to a moisture
content of 12 – 13%

 Threshed by sticks.

 Threshed grains are cleaned and dried to attain a moisture

content of 8 – 9%.

 The seeds are graded using BSS 7 x 7 wire mesh sieve.

 Storage
 Graded seed should be further dried to 9% moisture.

 For storing seed in dry places up to six months, they should be

packed in fresh thick cloth or gunny bags.

 For storing in humid areas and for long term (1-2 years) storage;
they should be packed in moisture-vapour-proof container like
polythene bags of 700 gauge.

 Another method treating seed with halogen mixture (containing

pure CaOC12, CaCO3 and arappu leaf powder in 5:5:1 ratio @
3g/kg) and store in 700 gauge poly bags to maintain high
germination for more than 10 months.
 Store grain pest

Bruchids (Callosobruchus spp.) are the most serious storage

pests of chickpea and all other food legumes. Bruchids lay white
eggs on the seeds and the larvae bore into seeds and adults
emerge from the seeds by cutting round holes in the seeds. The
infested seeds are unfit for sowing and consumption.

Management
The traditional methods of protecting the seed from bruchid
damage by mixing with ash, dried neem leaves, or chickpea or
wheat straw are useful for small quantities of seed. In case of
large scale storage, the seed store or the seed bins should be
fumigated periodically with commercially available fumigants
(ethylene dibromide or phosphine) to protect seed from storage
pests.