• A combination of weed competition and bird damage likely accounts for the absence of interaction between variety and crop-top application timing for grain yield in this trial. However significant treatment and variety responses were generated for grain yield, as well as a significant interaction for grain weight.
• Earlier maturing cultivars generally showed higher grain yield, favoured by the dry (but mild) finish to the season. The latest maturing cultivar Genesis114 showed the equal lowest average yield with other later maturing cultivars Genesis090, PBA HatTrick and Chickpea 3.

Grain yield results of these trials need to be treated with caution due to the adverse environmental
conditions experienced throughout the season.

• Howzat had significantly greater levels of foliar disease and pod infection levels than all resistant varieties when no fungicides were applied.
• Under high disease pressure in Howzat fortnightly sprays of chlorothalonil did not always prevent plant death from occurring.
• Maximum grain yields in Howzat treatments at Turretfield occurred in fortnightly sprays of
  chlorothalonil, however disease levels in these treatments were still higher than in untreated plots of the resistant varieties
• Resistant varieties with no fungicides applied suffered no yield loss when compared to the same varieties treated with fortnightly sprays under high disease pressure at Turretfield
• One spray at podding to reduce pod infection levels from low levels to very low levels in resistant varieties was all that was required to successfully grow the new resistant chickpeas under high levels of disease pressure last year. There was no significant difference between the fungicides used to reduce pod infection levels in the resistant types, however chlorothalonil reduced levels to a far greater extent than Mancozeb in Howzat.

Grain Yield results of these trials need to be treated with caution due to the adverse environmental
conditions experienced throughout the season.

• The trial had no disease pressure and was not harvested for grain yield due to the dry conditions which have been outlined previously.

Grain Yield results of these trials need to be treated with caution due to the adverse environmental
conditions experienced throughout the season.

• See Milestone 1 for weather interpretation.
• Infected stubble was spread throughout this trial to ensure adequate infection by ascochyta
• blight.
• The trial highlighted the excellent foliage resistance of Flip 94-090c, Flip 94-508c, Flip 94-509c and Flip 97-530. However because of late rainfall it also showed the importance of the recommended fungicide application at early podding to prevent seed discolouration. Where the plots remained untreated, there were significant levels of infection on the seed.
• Varieties that are susceptible (Kaniva) or moderately susceptible to ascochyta blight (Howzat and WACPE 2075) had significant yield reductions without the application of fungicides.

• Dry seasonal conditions did not favour chickpea production in 2006 and grain yields were below average
• Ascochyta blight infection levels were only low in the trials however the ascochyta blight resistant varieties still had lower infection levels than Howzat, Almaz and Nafice
• Susceptible and moderately resistant varieties incurred grain yield loss in nil treatments compared to fortnightly sprayed treatments at Turretfield. This did not occur in varieties rated resistant including the two new lines to be released (FLIP94-079C and CICA503)
• Previous trials show ascochyta blight resistant varieties Genesis090 and Genesis509 can be successfully grown under high disease pressure with only the need for foliar fungicide sprays during podding
• No information was obtained on podding strategies required to reduce grain yield loss in resistant varieties due to a lack of pod infection from the dry spring conditions. Further work is required in this area.
• Varieties with intermediate resistance require foliar fungicides early in the season to control ascochyta blight and prevent yield loss even in dryer years.

• Howzat, Sonali and Almaz had significantly greater levels of foliar disease, pod infection levels, yield loss and seed size reductions than all three resistant varieties when no fungicides were applied at both sites.
• Under very severe disease pressure levels fortnightly sprays of chlorothalonil did not always prevent plant death from occurring in Howzat, Sonali and Almaz.
• One spray of chlorothalonil at the podding stage in the resistant varieties was sufficient to control high levels of ascochyta blight disease pressure and prevent yield loss and seed size reduction, up to eight sprays were required in moderately susceptible lines and four sprays in moderately resistant varieties.
• Genesis090 and Genesis508 can be successfully grown in SA with only the need for one fungicide spray during podding except for in cases where very severe levels of disease pressure exist early in the season and then more frequent spraying in flowering and podding may be required.
• Varieties with partial resistance to ascochyta blight like Almaz can be successfully grown in SA however they will require a proactive regular fungicide spray strategy including early season fungicide sprays when disease is present.
• The treatment based on spraying according to forecasted rainfall amounts and variety disease susceptibility (predictive) was successful for moderately susceptible varieties under high levels of disease pressure, however needs further refining for severe disease level conditions and varieties with moderate or greater levels of resistance to ascochyta blight.
• Chlorothalonil was superior to mancozeb as a podding spray treatment.

• No disease was present in the trial this year, therefore no effects of fungicide management regime were seen.

• Dry and hot conditions prevailed throughout late winter and spring limiting disease spread and plant growth.
• There was no fungicide treatment effect on grain yield in 2007.
• Fungicide treatments at early podding (pod), early and late podding (podplus) and strategic sprays (strat) had larger seeds than the control, but not significantly larger than fortnightly or systemic sprays.

• No disease was present in the trial this year, therefore no effects of fungicide management regime were seen.

• Significant levels of disease were present in the trial this year, but due to the high temperatures in November causing a short finish, it appears that potential yield differences were negated.
   

• Both desi and kabuli chickpea varieties suffered severe plant establishment reductions from fertiliser placement with the seed and with increasing fertiliser rates.
• Fertiliser rates of 20 kg P/ha and above placed with the seed had a significant negative effect on grain yields.
• Yields increased with fertiliser rate up to about 20kg/ha of P in this particular season and soil type
• Over two seasons fertiliser placement has been shown to influence plant establishment and yield of chickpea.

• 2019 had below average growing season rainfall, which led to very little disease development
• No difference in fungicide treatments was observed due to good environmental control of disease

• 2019 had below average growing season rainfall, which led to very little disease development
• No difference in fungicide treatments was observed due to good environmental control of disease

• Response of 13 chickpea genotypes to zinc nutrition was studied in a pot experiment under glasshouse conditions.
• When grown with no added zinc, zinc deficiency symptoms appeared 3–4 weeks after planting.
• Zinc efficiency based on shoot dry weight showed marked differences among genotypes.
• Root:shoot ratio was increased and proportionally more zinc was transported to the shoot when the soil was deficient.
• Cultivars that were very sensitive to zinc deficiency tended to have their root:shoot ratio increased by zinc deficiency more than less sensitive cultivars.
• The insensitive lines transported more than 70% of the total absorbed zinc to the shoot .
• Chickpea genotypes vary in their sensitivity to zinc deficiency.

Large differences in yield existed between varieties and also in their tolerance to different herbicides.

• Lasseter chickpeas had the highest yield compared to Desavic and Tyson, which, in turn, were better than the Kabuli type, Kavina.
• There were no effects of the herbicides on yield.

Grain Yield results of these trials need to be treated with caution due to the adverse environmental
conditions experienced throughout the season.

• Growing season rainfall was extremely low (157mm c.f. 230mm long term average) and there was no subsoil moisture due to low summer rainfall. Only 8mm rainfall was recorded in r (a critical period for crop growth and yield determination). There was an extremely hot
  period during October which resulted in significant flower and pod abortion. Many plots had
  died without setting pods prior to harvest. The late rainfall of 50mm in November was too late to be of any benefit.
• Emergence was similar across all treatments and varieties.
• All varieties responded similarly to the herbicide treatments.
• The most significant damage was in simazine + imazethapyr and simazine + isoxaflutole
  treatments. Simazine + isoxaflutole applied at double rates caused a significant reduction in
  crop height.
• The trial was not harvested and grain yields not recorded as there was almost no pods set (see above).

Grain Yield results of these trials need to be treated with caution due to the adverse environmental
conditions experienced throughout the season.

• See Milestone 1 for weather interpretation.
• Emergence was similar across all treatments and varieties.
• All varieties responded similarly to the herbicide treatments.
• The most significant damage was in simazine + imazethapyr, simazine + isoxaflutole and flumetsulam treatments.
• Grain yields were improved in treatments with greatest weed control, hence no yield reductions were observed in the simazine + imazethapyr and simazine + isoxaflutole treatments, where most crop damage was observed.

• Simazine + imazethapyr applied at the double rate PSPE, reduced yield significantly in all varieties.
• There were no significant differences between varieties in 2009.

• There was diversity in phenology between varieties.
• Early sowing extended the crop vegetative period, but increased exposure to frost damage during the flowering phase.
• Desi varieties PBA Striker, PBA Slasher, PBA Boundary and CICA1521 were the highest yielding varieties at both sites.
• Dry conditions severely limited chickpea grain yield in 2019, but favoured early maturing varieties, particularly with mid May sowing.

Key findings:

• In a wet season, substantial yield losses (94%) from Phytophthora root rot (PRR) occurred in susceptible chickpea varieties such as PBA BoundaryA.
• Varieties with improved resistance to PRR (PBA HatTrickA and YorkerA) can also have large yield losses (68–79%) in a season highly conducive to PRR.
• Although yield losses will occur in seasons highly conducive to PRR, crosses between chickpea and wild Cicer species, such as the PBA breeding line CICA1328, currently offer the best levels of PRR resistance.

Summary

Under conditions that are highly conducive to PRR, substantial (94%) yield losses occur in susceptible varieties such as PBA Boundary.  However, significant losses (68-79%) can also occur in varieties with improved resistance to PRR (PBA HatTrick and Yorker).  Crosses between chickpea and wild Cicer species such as the PBA breeding line CICA1328 offer the best resistance to PRR.

• Pod set in chickpeas was suppressed by the cool September and October in 2009. Dry spring conditions further suppressed grain yields and grain weights of late sown chickpea crops by terminating seed fill prematurely.
• The dry season favoured early sowing, and generally favoured the early maturing Genesis079. The desi’s Genesis509 and new release PBASlasher generally performed similarly, although PBASlasher has higher long term yields and improved seed quality over Genesis509 in NVT trials.
• Earlier sown chickpeas yielded higher than those sown later. However, when sowing was delayed, yield was maximised in some varieties by increasing the seeding rate above recommended, similarly to 2008. However current chickpea densities of 35 plants/m2 for kabuli’s (small and large) and 50 plants/m2 for desi’s remain best-practice when sown early.
• Higher grain weights in chickpeas were achieved in 2009 by sowing early, particularly in larger seeded kabuli’s. However this finding was opposite to that found in the past where later sowing dates have led to larger grain weights. Increasing plant density from current recommendations did not influence yield, but reducing density to 20 plants/m2 did show a reduction in grain weight.

• Favourable early winter seasonal conditions were followed by dry conditions during late
  winter and spring.
• Late spring rainfall events were beneficial to grain formation and the average trial yield was a very respectable 1.7 t/ha given the below average growing season rainfall.

• The yields were to low to providing meaningful information on effects of plant population on yield, with moisture stress and varietal maturity having a major impact on plant reactions.
• There was a significant variety by density curvature.
• Genesis 509 shows a maximum yield at approximately 35 plants/m2, whilst the other two varieties show no real maximum, with Flipper showing a decline in yield with greater plant densities.

• Given the optimum growing conditions of 2010, lower plant populations more than
  compensated while higher populations suffered from lodging and shading issues
• Optimum plant densities were at the lower range - 20-30 plants/m2.
• Yield declined sequentially as seeding rate and lodging increased
• CICA0511 showed excellent lodging resistance, allowing it to maintain a positive response
  to yield as plant density increased.
• Genesis 509 was the highest yielding variety

• There was no significant variety by seeding rate interaction.
• There was however very significant main effects of variety (p<0.0001) and seeding rate  (p<0.0001).

• There were no significant varietal differences in either the curvature or linear response to plant
  density.
• There was however highly significant main effects of variety and plant density and an overall curvature effect.

No visual herbicide damage symptoms or yield effects were evident in 2008 wheat, barley, IT canola or lentil crops sown after the application of common herbicides to chickpeas in 2007.

• Doubling row spacing in chickpeas from 9” to 18” caused an 18% reduction in yield, although there were improvements in lodging and pod loss. Variety ranking was the same for both row spacings.
• Row spacing had no influence on grain weight in 2009.

• The 50cm row treatments were significantly lower yielding in all varieties.
• There were no significant variety by row spacing interactions.
• Varieties were significantly different with Genesis509 the top yielding variety at 19 cm, 30cm or twin rows.
• The twin row arrangement (two rows 35/15cm apart) showed similar results to the 19cm or 30cm rows.

• The trial site was too affected by moisture stress to provide any meaningful results, with the site plot yields extremely low.

• In dry years, sow faba bean and chickpea as early as possible in the recommended sowing window.
• Grain yield declined significantly as sowings were delayed from 30th April through to 7th July.
• Faba bean was far more sensitive to delays than chickpea –they lost on average 21 kgs seed/ha/day over this period compared to only 7 kgs seed/ha/day for chickpea.

• There was a significant effect of variety, row spacing, plant population and variety x row spacing.
• The full 3-way interaction and the interactions of population by variety and row spacing were not significant.

There was a small but significatn yield penalty for desi chickpeas treated with P Pickle T compared to the nil treatement (the control).

• Results of this trial need to be treated with caution due to the low yields and adverse environmental conditions experienced throughout the season.
• Growing season rainfall was extremely low (190mm c.f. 265mm long term average) and there was no subsoil moisture due to low summer rainfall. Only 9mm rainfall was recorded in October (a critical period for crop growth and yield determination). There was an extremely hot day October 13 (37OC) followed by a frost (Oct 16, -3.4) which resulted in almost complete flower and pod abortion. Approximately 80mm rain fell in November and December, ensuring that we achieved grain yields up to 400kg/ha.
• Emergence was similar to target plant densities.
• Results highlight the yield potential of the new lines Flip 94-090c and Flip 94-509c.
• Low plant densities and later sowing tended to be higher yielding due to the late rainfall. This is the opposite trend of 2003 and needs further investigation.
• There was a greater proportion of large seed (>8mm) of Flip 94-090c at low plant densities compared with high plant densities (25% c.f. 5%).

• A dry (but mild) finish to the season meant that yields were less than the previous seasons but still above average, and there was less biomass production and disease pressure, resulting in low amounts of plant lodging.
• As expected, lodging was greater at the earlier sowing date, but was generally only minimal.

A strong negative effect on crop yield was found with sowing chickpeas shallow even with light rates of Simazine and Triflualin.

• In 1997, due to dry conditions, there was little effect of Simazine and Trifluralin on chickpea yield.
• On lighter soils it is still advisable to sow chickpeas relatively deep (7-8cm) when using Trifluralin and Simazine for weed control.

The yields are too poor to properly assess the three different treatment times.

Chickpeas should be sown from early June in the Southern Mallee.

• Given the moisture stress only the chickpea plot warranted harvesting, with the faba beans not handling the conditions as well.
• Yields were extremely low due to moisture stress

• Early sowing generally produced the highest yield for chickpeas in 2007.
• Chickpea varieties showed differences in response to plant density at each of the sowing dates.
• Generally Genesis 509 showed increased yield with higher plant densities, Almaz showed reduced yields and Genesis 090 was variable depending on sowing date.

• Trial not harvested in 2009 due to dry conditions and poor growth throughout the season.

• Generally early sowing and higher plant densities resulted in highest yields.
• Wider row spacing’s with standing stubble (60 and 30 cm) produced 10% higher grain yields than slashed stubble treatments (19.5 cm and 30 cm) for chickpeas in 2009.

• It is generally recommended that sowing of chickpeas is performed later than other pulses,
  particularly in favourable areas, due to poor pod set in cool weather (winter) conditions and
  excessive lodging in favourable regions and seasons where vegetative growth is high.

• There is a clear significant effect of time of sowing, with a near linear yield decline with the delay in sowing.

• Chickpeas are not traditionally grown in the Victorian HRZ. Plots were not harvestable due to unfavourable weather during reproductive stages at this exposed site.
• Many pods were white and did not produce grain, as a result of cold conditions and frost.  
   

• There was a highly significant time of sowing effect across all times of sowing with the each sowing time being significantly from each other.

• The varietal effects were strongly detected with the newly released PBA varieties proving their
  superiority over older chickpea varieties.

• Wimmera rye grass. Score 4 (Early season). 2 (Mid season).
• Capeweed score 4 (Early season. 2 (Mid season).
• Drought score 5 (Mid season).
•  

The optimum time for sowing Desavic chickpeas, for the 1996 season, was from early May to mid June.

In the Southern Mallee canola is best sown from mid may onwards (earlier sowing can lead to problems with frost). Sowing in July is too late.

• Chickpea production in Victoria will increase in 2006 due to the wide availability of the ascochyta blight resistant variety Genesis™ 090.
• This variety will provide a new small seeded high yielding kabuli chickpea option for growers, particularly those in traditional desi growing areas.
• Two new larger seeded kabulis, Almaz and Nafice, with moderate ascochyta blight resistance are good varieties for areas where Kaniva has been grown successfully.

• Chickpeas are again a valid crop option with a number of varieties with improved ascochyta blight resistance, high yields and good adaptation now available to growers.
• Variety selection must be based on ascochyta blight pressure, yield and marketing opportunities, and understanding that disease management is critical to success.

• Chickpea variety selection must be based on ascochyta blight pressure, yield and marketing opportunities.
• If considering early sowing, it is essential to select a variety with excellent ascochyta blight resistance or ensure an excellent disease management strategy is implemented. 

• Treat all chickpea seed with a fungicide seed dressing when preparing seed for sowing in 2011.
• All chickpea varieties require fungicide pod sprays to protect pods and seeds against ascochyta blight infection.

This demonstration was conducted using farmer equipment. Farm scale demonstrations are a valuable way to explore new varieties, products or practices, complimenting results which are produced through more scientifically rigorous, small plot trials.

• Chickpea lines (kabuli and desi) with improved ascochyta blight resistance have been commercialised to Australian Agricultural Commodities by the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
• These new varieties will require fewer fungicides applications to manage ascochyta blight disease and reduce risk.

Chickpea lines (kabuli and desi) with improved ascochyta blight resistance have been commercialised to Australian Agricultural Commodities by the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment. These new varieties will require fewer fungicides applications to manage ascochyta blight disease and reduce risk.

• The first ascochyta blight resistant desi chickpea variety, Genesis 508™, is available to growers this year.
• A small-medium seeded kabuli variety, Genesis 090™, will be commercially available in 2006.
• Both varieties have been commercialised through Australian Agricultural Commodities (AAC).
• These varieties require fewer fungicide applications to manage ascochyta blight and much reduced risk.
• Each must be considered separately based on regional yield and quality.

1999 Mallee advanced chickpea yields ranged from 0.88 to 1.21 t/ha.

Fewer fungicides are needed by the new ascochyta blight resistant varieties than for the previous susceptible varieties.

When selecting a chickpea type and variety to grow, growers need to make their decision on the basis of AB resistance, yield, price, marketability and availability of likley target markets. Other agronomic traits such as susceptibility to cold, root lesion nematode susceptibility, maturity and lodging reisistance need to be considered also.

• New varieties have improved ascochyta resistance, but still need careful management.
• Avoiding early infection is critical to managing ascochyta effectively.
• A two spray fungicide strategy will provide reliable control.

• The trial results were quite variable.
• The excellent yields obtained from the current kabuli varieties, Kaniva and Garnet, are noteworthy, but G846.2.6, the new kabuli resease from NSW stands out as the top yeilder.

• Many of the new lines that have better ascochyta resistance than Sona out-yielded Sona.
• Sona is susceptible to ascochyta while WACPE 2073 and Kaniva are highly susceptible.
• Resistance of other lines are rated as moderately resistant to moderaly susceptible except for FLIP94-90C and ICCV that may be classed as moderately resistant depending on further results.

• There appeared to be little difference in yield between applying fungicide and nil fungicide. 
• The fenugreek variety Power gave the best yield results as expected as Power is the variety for seed production and Might is a fodder variety.

Due to the lack of rainfall during spring, the resulting yields were very disappointing. Yields were too low to make any reasonable comparisons and consequently, the statistical analysis found no significant difference between treatments.

• Although it was a dry year, the results highlighted significantly less ascochyta blight infection in Genesis 090, which is rated MS as compared to PBA Striker which is rated S.
• There was also significantly higher infection in the variety PBA Striker when Bixafen + Prothioconazole or Tebuconazole + Azoxystrobin were used after the first signs of infection compared to when they were used as a preventative spray. 

These results are only preliminary and should not be used on their own. The effects of the different fungicides will require greater investigation before significant interpretation can be made.

These results are only preliminary and should not be used on their own. The effects of the different fungicides will require greater investigation before significant interpretation can be made.

• Both varieties had similar grain yields (Genesis 090: 0.28 t/ha, PBA Striker: 0.26 t/ha) and no significantly different effect of fungicide treatment (see Table 3 in attached trial report summary). There was no evidence of an interaction between the fungicide and the variety.

• Despite a dry year with low grain yields, ascochyta blight was observed in all varieties, with stem breakages visible.
• However, there was significant variation between varieties and some newer breeding lines including CICA1454 ranked equal or better than Genesis 090 (see Table 2 in attached report).  
• Although there were significant differences between varieties with ascochyta blight infection, this did not equate to differences in grain yield.
• There was only a significant difference between fungicide treatments (see Table 3 in attached report). 

Despite a dry finish, ascochyta blight progressed well, causing stem breakages and significant grain yield losses in most varieties. The new variety, PBA Royal had 45% of the plot with stem infections early in the season but recovered and had little grain yield losses compared to the full control treatment (Table 4). The breeding line CICA1454 had 15% less ascochyta blight infection compared to the closest named variety, offering hope of better ascochyta blight resistance.

• Despite a dry year with low grain yields, ascochyta blight was observed in all varieties, with stem breakages visible. There was a significant interaction between variety and fungicide treatment. This showed some newer breeding lines including CICA1352, CICA1454, CICA1156 ranked equal or better than Almaz and Genesis 090 (see Table 2 in attached Trial report).
• Grain yields varied significantly, with a significant variety and treatment affect observed. Grain yield losses up to 36% were observed in the untreated (nil) plots (see Table 3 in attached Trial report). This also highlighted CICA1156, CICA1552, ‘C1’, and CICA1652 which ranked higher for yield than the highest named variety Almaz. In a pairwise analysis only CICA1652 was significantly higher than Almaz. 

Ascochyta blight infection was severe within this trial and resulted in almost complete plot death in multiple susceptible varieties. Grain yields were higher when disease was fully controlled. Interestingly, PBA Royal, a new variety with improved resistance produced the highest yields when diseases were fully controlled (2.44 t/ha) and not controlled at all (1.6 t/ha).

• Significantly more ascochyta blight infection and lower grain yields were observed in PBA Striker (rated S) than Genesis090 (MS). Captan and Propiconazole treatments were also less effective in controlling ascochyta blight than the tebuconazole + Azoxystrobin and Bixafen + Prothioconazole, but both the Captan and Propiconazole treatments had less disease than the untreated plots. This did not equate to significantly different grain yields due to the dry season with low grain yields overall. 

The trial faced numerous problems such as poor emergence in several lines, selective grazing by rabbits/hares and spray drift that confounded the fungicide applications. This trial was abandoned.

This trial was sown to showcase to growers, the viability of growing chickpeas in the region and evaluate varietal performance in the local conditions at Dookie 2019. Desi varieties were among top three of the highest yielding varieties. Grain yields were very good (0.90- 1.53 t/ha) considering the very dry finish at Dookie.

• The treatments resulted in highly significant differences in nodulation assessments.  The best treatments included peat applied to the seed or Tagteam or Nodulator granules applied in the seed furrow.  No inoculation or applying the product Alosca in furrow produced very few nodules.  
• Grain yield was very low (<150 kg/ha) due to the dry season and poor establishment, therefore data has not been reported. 

• There is a benefit in inoculating chickpeas where there are limited rhizobia present in the soil. Granular inoculants present an opportunity to potentially improve nodulation under dry sowing conditions and assist with sowing logistics, with no reduction in nodulation or grain yield. It is important to understand how your seeding system may impact on efficacy of inoculants, including liquid placement, seed dressings and seed box. 

• Treatments which included Nodulaid peat and Nodulator or TagTeam granular at twice the recommended rate produced the greater number and highest weight of nodules.  Nodulator and TagTeam granular applied at recommended rates and the EasyRhiz liquid treatment produced similar outcomes for both variables.  The application of Alosca at both label and twice label rate produced very few nodules and therefore total nodule weight was the lowest of all commercial products evaluated.  There were no nodules produced in the nil treatments which confirms there was not a background population of chickpea rhizobia in the soil and highlights the importance of inoculating pulses such as chickpea.
• For further results and interpretation see attached trial report summary.

Chickpea ascochyta blight infection was low due to dry seasonal conditions, which were not conducive for high levels of disease infection at Hart, 2019. Harvestability, in terms of plant height, was not reduced where chickpea was intercropped with canola. However, intercropping chickpea with linseed in a mixed row arrangement decreased the plant height of chickpea. Grain yield of chickpea as a sole crop was greater than all intercropping treatments. Further work is required to determine if the costs of disease management, weed management and crop desiccation can be reduced by adopting mix species system.

Improved nutrition and inoculants improved biomass but not grain yields Desi chickpea, PBA Striker produced more biomass at flowering than kabuli varieties (Genesis 090 and Genesis 079).

Inoculant and MAP fertiliser increased plant height and biomass production. Further, inoculant and MAP fertiliser increased the height of the lowest pod, which increased their harvestability at Tooligie, 2019. Doubled rate of inoculant did not increase chickpea production compared to applying the standard rate at an economically viable level. Gibberellic acid did not influence plant height or biomass but decreased the grain yield of chickpea at Warnertown 2019.

• Grain yield was very low and variable in 2018 due to low soil pH at the site and water logging in part of the trial. The removal of phosphorus from the fertiliser significantly reduced plant biomass and showed a trend towards reduced grain yield. However, results should be treated with caution due to high variability in the trial.   

• Grain yields were generally low in 2018 due to dry seasonal conditions and frost events during the vegetative and reproductive stages. There was no yield response to the soil nutrition treatments on both soil types. All the treatments except all nutrient minus phosphorus resulted in significantly higher biomass than the nil on the swale.
• The dry growing season conditions may have reduced movement and uptake of the applied macro and micro-nutrients by the crop. Hence, results should be treated with caution.

Treatments were not significant on grain yield. Grain yields were very low in 2019 due to extremely dry seasonal conditions. The dry conditions may have restricted microbial growth, movement and uptake of the nutrients by the crop. Hence, results should be treated with caution.

• NDVI indicated that on the heavier soil types (bay 1- 4), the All – trace elements treatment had the highest growth and this was significant in bays 1,3 and 4.  On the sander soils in bays 6 to 10 there appeared to be a response to the addition of nitrogen with the All – N and Nil treatments having the lowest NDVI values.
• Biomass data was collected from bays 3, 5 and 9. There was a response to nutrients in bay 3 with the all nutrients treatment having the highest biomass and no nutrients treatment the lowest.  The All-N treatment also had low biomass in bay 1.  There were no significant differences for biomass in the sandier soil types however productivity from these bays was very low.   

• Autumn-sown chickpea had grain yields of up to 1.3t/ha c.f. with 0.2t/ha for spring sowing. Neelam was the highest yielding variety autumn sown.  

•  In contrast to long term trial results, the chickpea varieties and breeding lines did not have yield benefits from earlier sowing in 2018.  Several frost events during the flowering and podding phase caused significant flower and pod abortion, particularly in the earlier sown treatments which were further advanced in the reproductive phase. However, it is worth noting that grain yields were impacted by dry seasonal conditions and mice damage earlier in the season and hence, results should be interpreted with caution.
• All varieties and breeding lines had significant ascochyta blight (AB) infection in the early sown and irrigated treatment. Among the varieties and breeding lines, CICA1454 and CICA1352 showed significantly less AB symptoms than others, while PBA Striker and ‘C2’ had the most severe symptoms.  

• In contrast to long term trial results, the chickpea varieties and breeding lines did not have yield benefit from earlier sowing in 2018. Several frost events during flowering and podding caused significant flower and pod abortion, particularly in the earlier sown treatments which were further advanced in the reproductive phase. Hence, growers should consider long-term data and additional information when making varietal or agronomic decisions. Early sowing and irrigating with 20 mm of water increased establishment, early growth and flowering, and risk of frost damage. The performance of varieties and breeding lines were similar except ‘C1’and ‘C2’ which had lower biomass and grain yield than others.