IPM Packages for Crops

Chickpea Package

Two varieties of chickpea used in combination with raised beds.

C hickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) (Fabaceae) is an annual legume (pulse crop) of the family Fabaceae. It is commonly known as garbanzo bean, Egyptian pea, and gram, or Bengal gram. Based on seed color, chickpea is also classified as ‘Desi’ or ‘Kabuli’ types. Desi chickpea has a pigmented (tan to black) seed coat and small seed size (greater than 100 seeds/28 gms), whereas Kabuli or garbanzo bean has white to cream-colored seed coats and size ranges from small to large (50–100 seeds/28 gms). Chickpea originated in the Middle East and got domesticated in Southeast Asia. Currently, chickpea is grown in about 57 countries in Asia, Australia, Middle East, North America, South America, Africa, and Europe. Major producers of Chickpea are India, Australia, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Canada, USA, Mexico, Malawi, Morocco, and Syria. In 2019, India shared 70% of global chickpea production. The chickpea plant is a self-pollinating, small bush with a height ranging from 30 to 60 cm. Chickpea crop performs best with the long, warm growing season and is usually grown as a rainfed, cool- season crop in semiarid regions. Well-draining, sandy loam soils with a pH 5.0–7.0, and annual rainfall of 600–1000 mm are best for this crop. It is sown in early spring and is harvested in late summer or early autumn. Chickpea seeds’ inoculation with Rhizobium ciceri ensures effective nodulation and nitrogen-fixing activity. Chickpea contains 25-29% protein, 65% car - bohydrates, a small percentage of fat content, and is consumed fresh as green vegetables, boiled, parched, fried, and roasted. Major abiotic stresses for this crop are drought, salinity, waterlogging, high temperature, and frequent frost, which can limit the growth and productivity of chickpea. Major biotic stresses include diseases such as ascochyta blight ( Ascochyta rabiei ), fusarium wilt ( Fusarium oxysporum ), sclerotinia stem rot ( Sclerotinia sclerotiorum ), damping-off ( Pythium spp.), dry root rot ( Macrophomina phaseolina ), phytophthora root rot ( Phytophthora megasperma ); and insects such as pod borer ( Helicoverpa armigera ), adzuki bean beetle ( Callosobruchus chinensis ), cutworm ( Agrotis ipsilon ), beet armyworm ( Spodoptera exigua ), chickpea leafminer ( Liriomyza cicerina ) and black aphid ( Aphis craccivora ).