Effects of different organic fertilizer applications on yield and yield-related characteristics in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivation

This study was carried out in order to investigate the effects of different organic fertilizer applications on yield and yield-related traits in winter chickpea cultivation in 2023/2024 growing season in Çukurova conditions. In the study, varieties were applied to the main plots and fertilizers were applied to the sub-plots. In the study, Caner and Seçkin chickpea varieties and seaweed (250 cc/da), chicken manure (200 kg/da) and leonardite (350 kg/da) organic fertilizers and chemical fertilizer (3 kg/da N and 8 kg/da P2O5) were used as material. No fertilizer was applied to the control plot. In the study, duration until flowering, duration until maturity, plant height, first pod height, number of main branches, number of pods, number of grain, grain weight per plant, 100-grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index were examined. As a result of the research, according to different fertilizer applications, flowering duration was 92.6 - 96.0 days, maturity time was 168.0 - 169.6 days, plant height was 83.0 - 88.7 cm, first pod height was 32.7 - 34.1 cm, number of main branches was 2.5 - 3.1, number of pods was 14.3 - 16.4 , number of grains was 15.2 - 18.3, grain weight per plant was 6.6 - 7.0 g, 100- grain weight was 38.4 - 40.6 g, grain yield was 166.6 - 196.9 kg da-1, biological yield was 25.9 - 28.1 g plant-1, harvest index was 23.5 - 27.1%. Duration until flowering was affected by fertilizer types. The highest value was found in the seaweed and leonardite applications with 96 days. First pod height was influenced by interaction of cultivar x fertilizer applications. In terms of first pod height the highest value was obtained from leonardite and chicken manure applications in Seçkin cultivar with 34.7 cm while the highest value was obtained from chemical fertilizer applications in Caner with 36.5 cm. 100 - grain weight was affected by cultivar x fertilizer applications. In terms of 100-grain weight, the highest value was obtained from leonardite application in Seçkin with 38.5 g, while the highest value was in chemical fertilizer application in Caner cultivar with 43.6 g. There were no significant differences among fertilizer applications for grain yield. However relatively higher yields were obtained from organic fertilizer applications compared to control and chemical fertilizer applications. Statistically significant differences were observed among the varieties and the highest grain yield was determined in the Caner variety with 196.2 kg/da-1.