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Sowing Date and Cultivar Effects on Assimilate Translocation in Spring Mediterranean Chickpea
Author(s) -
Fotiadis Sideris,
Koutroubas Spyridon D.,
Damalas Christos A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2017.01.0048
Subject(s) - sowing , dry matter , agronomy , cultivar , mediterranean climate , yield (engineering) , biology , frost (temperature) , geography , ecology , meteorology , materials science , metallurgy
Core Ideas March sowing resulted in higher dry matter, total N accumulation, and seed N content than April sowing. Seed yield up to 3320 kg ha −1 were obtained with March sowing. Seed yield was correlated negatively with dry matter translocation to the seeds.In cooler Mediterranean areas autumn sowing of chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) is avoided because of the increased frost risk. A 2‐yr field study was conducted to investigate the potential effects of spring sowing date and cultivar on assimilate dynamics (i.e., dry matter and N accumulation, partitioning and translocation) and productivity of Mediterranean chickpea, and to assess possible N losses from plant foliage. Three local cultivars (i.e., Andros, Kassos, and Serifos) and one foreign cultivar (i.e., Zehavit‐27) were evaluated under two sowing dates (i.e., March sowing and April sowing). March sowing resulted in higher dry matter, total N accumulation, and seed N content than April sowing. Seed yield up to 3320 kg ha −1 was obtained with March sowing. April sowing resulted in a yield penalty of 22 to 50 kg ha −1 d −1 of sowing delay compared with March sowing. Seed yield was correlated negatively with dry matter translocation to the seeds and positively with dry matter accumulation during the seed‐filling period. Dry matter and N translocation efficiency reached up to 77 and 96%, respectively. High N accumulation until the beginning of seed growth and low N accumulation thereafter enhanced N translocation to the seeds. However, when early aboveground N was high (>120 kg N ha −1 ) and the seed demands for N were low (<96 kg N ha −1 ), N losses were observed, reaching up to 40.4 kg N ha −1 . Chickpea has potential as an alternative spring crop in cooler Mediterranean areas, provided that early spring sowing is applied.