Chickpea is sensitive to herbicides and manual weeding is currently the only option for
weed control in many developing countries in arid and semi-arid regions of the world.
The farmers in these countries need herbicide-tolerant varieties to use post-emergence
herbicides to control weeds. In this direction, a study was conducted with 21 breeding
lines at four locations in India (Patancheru, Bijapur, Nandyal and Sehore) during postrainy
season of 2014-15. The trial was conducted under field conditions in RBD with
four replications in both control (hand weeding) and sprayed (herbicide: Imazethapyr
@ 750 ml/ha) treatments. The herbicide was sprayed 30 days after sowing. Herbicide
effect was studied on phenological (days to flowering and maturity) and agronomic
(number of primary and secondary branches, plant height, seed yield, 100-seed weight
and harvest index) traits. The results indicated that time to flowering and maturity
was delayed up to 16.5 and 18.5 days, respectively. Herbicide had no effect on primary
branches, while the number of secondary branches was increased up to 12. Plant
height was severely reduced by 18cm. The reduction in seed yield was observed up to
49%, whereas 100-seed weight was increased across locations. Location-specific superior
lines (Nandyal: ICCIL 04016, ICCIL 04004, ICCV 10114; Patancheru: ICCIL
04007; Bijapur: ICCV 04516, ICCV 10, ICCV 97105, ICCIL 01026, ICCV 09106;
Sehore: ICCV 08102) were identified. These lines can be used as potential sources for
developing herbicide tolerant varieties in chickpea. Weed management through herbicides
is economical and facilitates minimum tillage methods, which help preserve
topsoil
