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Project Record

Objectives:

The project will confirm the beneficial effects of priming chickpea, over several seasons and in diverse agro-ecological conditions, using on-farm, participatory methods. Widespread adoption of chickpea will be stimulated and supported and the influence of a "key" technology (seed priming) of farmers' perception of risk and likely benefits and the effect on farmers' livelihoods will be quantified.

Background:

There is great potential for improving the livelihoods of poor farmers in the High Barind Tract areas of Bangladesh, by growing chickpea on residual soil moisture afer the harvest of rainfed rainy season (aman) rice. The area, covering about 2,200 sq km, was traditionally left falllow after the single crop of aman rice, mainly because of the lack of irrigation potential and the hard-setting nature of the soil. Technology to permit crop establishment after rice, and growth on residual soil moisture and winter rain, was developed in the 1980s, and implemented over the subsequent decade. Chickpea has proved to be a particularly suitable crop in this system, and its area in the region has increased tenfold from a base of around 1,000 ha in the 1980s. However, constraints to wider adoption of chickpea are low yields due to use of inappropriate varieties; an inefficient seed supply system; insufficient knowledge by farmers of chickpea production and storage techniques; poor nodulation, and nutrient deficiencies of soils in some areas; and difficulties in obtaining good crop establishment, as top soil dries rapidly at the end of the rice season. On-farm trials during 1998/99 demonstrated that priming chickpea seed overnight with water before sowing, improved crop establishment and plant vigour, gave a 47% increase in grain yield, and reduced the risk of crop failure by half. This simple, low-cost, low-risk ,key, technology makes chickpea a much more attractive crop for farmers to grow.

Intended Outputs:

Benefits of priming chickpea seed confirmed.

Understanding of factors affecting adoption of chickpea technology.

Influence of seed priming on farmers' decision to adopt chickpea quantified.

Profitability and socio-economic consequences of growing chickpea quantified.

Progress and Impact:

Benefits of priming chickpea seed confirmed
Chickpea was shown to be a suitable crop for growing on residual moisture after rainy season rice in the HBT of Bangladesh. The key to successful chickpea cropping is ensuring reasonable crop establishment, before the surface soil dries. Seed priming was used as a vehicle to promote further expansion of chickpea in the HBT. Two hundred and eighty farmer-managed evaluations of the priming response were conducted across the HBT over four years (1998-2002). Mean response to priming in grain yield ranged from 22-48% with the largest responses in winter seasons without rainfall. Priming also reduced seedling disease incidence, and increased plant population, early growth vigour, plant biomass and nodulation by native rhizobia.

Understanding of factors affecting adoption of chickpea technology
We found that DAE data generally underestimated actual chickpea area. Thus it was not possible to precisely estimate time trends in total chickpea adoption. In the 2001-02 season, DAE estimated around 6,000 ha of chickpea in the HBT; a conservative estimate of PROVA was around 10,000 ha; BARI-OFRD estimated around 12,000 ha. A survey (Saha, 2000) gave estimates of primed area ranging from 25 to 50%, i.e. 2,300 to 4,800 ha of primed chickpea, practically all as a result of project activity. Adoption of priming often meant adoption of an improved variety (e.g. Barichola 2 or 5), and usually application of the recommended dose of phosphorus fertilizer.

Saha (2002) reported that the major constraint to further adoption was availability of seed and lack of knowledge of the improved technology outside the project areas. Farmers also requested further assistance to manage diseases (collar rot and Fusarium wilt) and the pests the pod borer. Late harvest of rainy season rice, previously considered a major constraint, proved of lesser importance as good yields (>1.5 t ha-1) could be obtained from chickpea sown at the end of November; and reasonable yields (>1 t ha-1) could be obtained from early December sowings provided recommended agronomy was followed.

Village-level schemes were established for seed production, preservation and distribution. Ninety-six farmers produced 31.4 tonnes of seed in 2000-2002. Thirty-four back-up experiments quantified root distribution of chickpea and other crops and responses to phosphorus, molybdenum and Rhizobium inoculation. Integrated pest management (IPM) procedures for control of Helicoverpa armigera pod borer were developed and promoted.

Influence of seed priming on farmers' decision to adopt chickpea quantified.

Saha (2002) showed that farmers were influenced to adopt chickpea by being exposed to the negligible-cost priming technology which resulted in 20-50% yield increases. In addition to priming, two hundred and seventy-five demonstrations of improved chickpea technology were implemented, with the assistance of DAE. Farmers involved were reluctant to implement non-primed 'control' plots as they were convinced that failure to prime would result in a yield penalty.

Profitability and socio-economic consequences of growing chickpea quantified.

Relative to both rainfed (e.g. linseed) and irrigated (e.g. boro rice, wheat) rabi crops, rainfed chickpea was the most profitable crop due to both lower input costs compared to high input irrigated crops and high and increasing prices of chickpea grain can increas trend due to short supply of chickpea in Bangladesh). In the almost rainless rabi season of 2001-02, farmers realised up to Tk 16,000/- ha profit from chickpea cultivation on owned land and up to Tk 9,000/- ha from leased land or by share cropping.

Project Conclusions:

Farmers are readily adopting the simple seed priming technology along with improved chickpea varieties and other optimum cultivation practices. This has resulted in additional net income and improved livelihoods.

Publications:

Musa AM, Johansen C, Harris D and Kumar Rao JVDK (eds). 2001. Summary proceedings of the review and planning workshop for the DFID-funded project on promotion of chickpea in the Barind Tract of Bangladesh, held at the office of the Agricultural Information Service, Department of Agricultural Extension, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. 61pp.



A laminated pamphlet, on growing chickpea in the High Barind Tract, in Bangla, was prepared for distribution to the farmers interested in growing chickpea in the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh.



Harris D, Kumar Rao JVDK and Kumar J. (2001). On-farm seed priming. Agricultural research and extension network newsletter No. 44:3



Musa AM, Harris D, Johansen C and Kumar J. (2001). Short-duration chickpea to replace fallow after aman rice: the role of on-farm seed priming in the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh. Experimental Agriculture 37(4): 509-521.



Saha, AK (2002). Impact assessment study for the DFID-funded project R7540 'Promotion of chickpea following rainfed rice in the Barind area of Bangladesh. Plant Sciences Research Programme, CAZS, Bangor, UK.



Musa AM and Johansen C. (2002). Promotion of chickpea in the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh. In Integrated Management of Botrytis Grey Mould of Chickpea in Bangladesh and Australia. Summary Proceedings of a Project Inception Workshop, 1-2 June 2002, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Joydebpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh. (Bakr MA, Siddique KHM, and Johansen C, Eds.) Joybebpur, Bangladesh: BARI; Crawley, Western Australia: Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture; Canberra, Australia: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. In press.



Musa AM, Johansen C, Kumar J and Harris D. (1999). Response of chickpea to seed priming in the High Barind Tract of Bangladesh. International Chickpea and Pigeonpea Newsletter 6:20-22.

Associated References:

R6395