Effect of Biofortification on Growth and Yield of Chickpea

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important crop for vegetarian people as primary source of protein, it is third most important pulse crop grown in the world after dry beans and peas (Kaur et al., 2020). India ranks first in area and production of chickpea followed by Australia, Pakistan and Turkey. As per 4th advance estimates, it accounts an acreage of 10.17 million hectares contributing 11.35 million tonnes of production with an average productivity of 1,116 kg/ha during 2019-20 in India. Among states, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are primarily growing states of chickpea. Moreover, it has occupied on 2.46 million hectares with a production of 2.66 million tonnes and productivity of 1,080 kg/ha in Rajasthan (DES, 2020). In Rajasthan, it is primarily cultivated in arid and semi-arid districts of Rajasthan including Nagaur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sikar, Pali, Jhunjhunu and Ajmer. This crop is tolerant to drought, can be grown successfully on well drained loamy to sandy loam soils under residual moisture(Yadav et al., 2019).