Improving the Land, Water, and Energy Productivity of Dryland Chickpea by Managing the Genotype and Tillage System

Abstract

In recent times, conservation agriculture (CA) has emerged as a prominent sustainable production method, gaining significant traction among farmers. The objective of this research project was to assess the potential for enhancing the land, water, and energy productivity of four dryland chickpea genotypes through the implementation of three tillage systems over three cropping seasons (2016–2019) in the rainfed conditions of northwest of Iran. The mean values for grain yield (GY), land productivity (LP), rainwater productivity (RWP), and energy productivity (EP) were found to be greater in the third year of the zero-tillage (ZT) system in comparison to the minimum tillage (MT) and conventional tillage (CT) systems. In comparison to the CT system, both MT and ZT resulted in significantly reduced energy input values, with a reduction of 19.4% and 34.5%, respectively. The greatest energy-intensive inputs were diesel fuel (44%), seed (18%), and nitrogen fertilizer (17%), in that order. The findings also indicated that the type of tillage, crop variety and duration of tillage exert an influence on the carbon footprint (CF) and global warming potential (GWP). In this regard, the lowest CF of 0.123 kg CO₂ eq kg⁻¹ was observed in the Zarrin variety under the ZT system. The findings illustrate that the sustainable cultivation of chickpeas in cold, arid, and semi-arid regions necessitates the expansion of conservation tillage (ZT or MT) and the selection of appropriate crop varieties in dryland chickpea production. These practices enhance land, rainwater, and energy productivity; mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and enhance carbon efficiency.