Please suggest any remedies for saving chickpeas from severe cold (frost), icicle formation on leaves in winter. It usually happens in last week of December to first week of January and can destroy the crop completely in Madhya Pradesh, which is usually fruiting time in chickpeas as they start sowing from mid-October.
I had tried foliar spray of pseudomonas fluorescens and it helped with regrowth and re-flowering of chickpea and saved the crop. If there are any other better idea, it would be a great help.
really surprising to know about the plantation time. obviously different climate conditions.
i will start sowing chickpeas in between my mangoes trees in Mid December.
and does foiler spray of pseudomonas last long effect wise? Icicle formation is almost ice cold, do the cultures survive/perform in such cold conditions?
about the plantation, what is the size of the land in plantation? dimensions? are there small empty patches in between, or is the plantation dense and continuous? what is the height of the plants?
do you have good electricity supply at your setup?
Vivek
Hi Vivek,
Foliar spray of Pseudomonas does increase yield in chickpea in favorable condition. Usually the frost condition last for a week, and we spray Pseudomonas just after that and it works by helping the plant limp back to health even though some of the fruit are lost, new branches and fruit does appear again.
We are cultivating chickpea in 8 acres. We use 40 – 45 kg seeds per acre as chickpea’s require space to branch out (sparse yields most, my experience). The height of the plants is about half feet now and is flowering.
Yes we do have single phase electricity 24 hours a day and 3 phase for 5 hours at night and 5 hours in the daytime. Spraying water early morning is not an option as usually the plants are fruit bearing and in transition to maturity at the time and farmers here say it affects production (could not try myself the last time due to scarcity of water).