The effect of different tillage methods on yield and growth characteristics of some autumnal chickpea

Conventional tillage systems have harmful effects on soil structure. To evaluate the performance of different methods of tillage on yield and growth characteristics of some autumn chickpea an experiment carried out in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications as split plot arrangement at the University of Tehran experimental farm in Karaj in 2012. In this study the effect of three conventional tillage, minimum tillage and no tillage were investigated on three chickpea cultivars yield included Arman, Hashem and ILC-482. Coincides with the planting of seeds, superphosphate fertilizer was added to the soil at the rate of 150 kg.h-1. The results of this study showed that the highest emergence percentage was related to conventional tillage, but since the pea plant is indeterminate, increasing the yield component like seeds per pod, number of pods per plant and seed weight in Hashem and Arman cultivars, led to better performance in minimum tillage compared with conventional tillage and no-till. Hashem and Arman cultivars hade the highest yield in tillage systems compared to other treatments.