Effectiveness of modern agrotechnological approaches to the cultivation of chickpea in the conditions of North-Western Precaspian area

Abstract

Chickpea has better drought resistant and productive properties than pea. Presently, chickpea is the main pulse crop cultivated in the Lower Volga Region because of its higher nutrient and feeding value. The study was aimed to identify the most effective variant of growth stimulation that would meet the requirements of resource sparing technology of chickpea cultivation in the Astrakhan region. Field trials and observations were performed according to the generally accepted methods proposed by Dospekhov and Moiseichenko. Field trials were conducted for the study of the influence of extra root treatment with growth stimulators at different phases of chickpea development and the pre-seeding inoculation with nitrogen-fixing microorganism strains. For the first time, for soil and climatic conditions of the North-Western Caspian Sea, features of chickpea crop formation were revealed depending on cultivation options in irrigation conditions. A comparative analysis was carried out with the identification of the most promising options. Methods and techniques of chickpeas cultivation in irrigation conditions ensuring production of highly productive commercial products are justified. Pre-seeding inoculation with microbiological agents and extra root (foliar) treatment with growth stimulators positively influenced the formation of the yield of the studied crop and the elements of the yield structure as well. Especially, this was evident in the variants with pre-seeding inoculation with microbiological agents that contained strains 065, 527 and in the variants with foliar dressing with Plantafol 10:54:10 and biostimulator Megafol, which significantly differed from the control variant.