Effect of Planting Date on Winter Kabuli Chickpea Growth and Yield under Rainfed Mediterranean Conditions

The stability of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) yield under rainfed Mediterranean conditions can be improved by winter planting of cultivars resistant or tolerant to Ascochyta blight [Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Lab.]. A field study was conducted in southern Spain to evaluate the effect of different planting dates (late autumn, early winter, mid‐winter and the traditional late winter planting date) on growth and yield for two chickpea cultivars: ‘Fardón’ (Ascochyta blight resistant) and the widely grown, local cv. ‘Pedrosillano’ (not Ascochyta resistant and with fungicide treatments applied). Grain yield for late autumn and early and mid‐winter planting dates was between 50 and 80% greater compared to the traditional late winter planting date. The earliest two planting dates had no significant differences for yield. Rainfall during the growing season had a strong effect on biomass production and grain yield for all planting dates. The leaf area duration (LAD) index displayed a strong positive correlation with both dry matter production and grain yield, although variations in spring weather conditions prompted a year × planting date interaction. Plant density was the component most influencing yield; both plant density and pods plant−1 were greater for earlier planting dates. ‘Fardón’ was less productive than ‘Pedrosillano’ (averaging 1.76 vs. 1.94 t ha−1 over all planting dates, respectively). However, there was likely little profitability for Pedrosillano due to the fungicide applications.