Response of Chickpea Cultivars to Application of Boron in Boron-Deficient Calcareous Soils

• Published in: Communications in soil science and plant analysis 2007-10, Vol.38 (17-18), p.2381-2399
• Main Authors: Ceyhan, E, Onder, M, Harmankaya, M, Hamurcu, M, Gezgin, S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: agricultural soils; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; application rate; Biological and medical sciences; Boron; calcareous soils; chickpea; Cicer arietinum; fertilizer application; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genetic variation; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; genotype; grain yield; nutrient deficiencies; plant micronutrients; yield component
• ISSN: 0010-3624; 1532-2416
• DOI: 10.1080/00103620701588734

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of four boron (B) doses (control, 0 kg B ha(-1); B1, 1 kg B ha(-1); B2, 3 kg B ha(-1); and B3, 6 kg B ha(-1)) in soils deficient in available B (0.19 mg B kg(-1)) and lime (CaCO3) content (20.7%) on yield and some yield components of five chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes, namely Akcin-91, Population, Gokce, Izmir-92, and Menemen-92 in central Anatolian Turkey in the 2002 and 2003 growing seasons. Plant height, pods per plant, grain yield, protein content, protein yield, thousand seed weight, and leaf B concentration were measured. Grain yields in all genotypes (except for Gokce) were significantly increased by 1 kg ha(-1) B application. Application of 1 kg ha(-1) B increased the yield by an average of 5%. Genotypes studied showed significant variations with respect to their responses to additional B. Akcin-91 gave the highest grain yield (1704.8 kg ha(-1)) at 3 kg B ha(-1), whereas Population, Izmir-92, and Menemen-92 yielded best (1468.2 kg ha(-1), 1483.0 kg ha(-1), and 1484.7 kg ha(-1), respectively) at 1 kg B ha(-1). Interestingly, Gokce reached to the highest level of grain yield (1827.1 kg ha(-1)) at the control. Gokce was a B deficiency B tolerance genotype. The other genotypes appeared to have high sensitivity to B deficiency. This study showed that B deficiency could result in significant yield losses in chickpea under the experimental conditions tested. Thus, B contents of soils for the cultivation of chickpea should be analyzed in advance to avoid yield losses.