How To Cultivate Organic Chickpeas

Makintau - Chickpeas or Phaseolus vulgaris is a fruit vegetable that belongs to the legume group. Cultivation of chickpeas is suitable to be carried out on medium to high plains.

The ideal height for this plant is 1000-1500 meters above sea level with a temperature of 20-25oC. However, the cultivation of chickpeas can still be done in lowlands up to 400 meters above sea level.

Cultivation of chickpeas requires a lot of sunlight with moderate rainfall. This plant is suitable for cultivation at the end of the rainy season and the beginning of drought. Chickpeas are also sensitive to standing water so that the drainage of the land must be strictly considered.

In Indonesia there are two types of chickpea plants. Some grow creeping and upright. Creeping chickpeas can have a height of up to 2 meters and easily fall. Therefore, it needs the help of bamboo lenjeran to support it.

While the upright type is only 60 cm tall and does not require bamboo lenjeran to grow. On this occasion, we will outline the ways of cultivating vine-type chickpeas.

Land Processing For Organic Chickpea Cultivation

An easy way to cultivate organic chickpeas Land acquisition for the cultivation of organic chickpeas is slightly different from tillage for leaf vegetables.

First of all the soil is plowed to be fattened. Mix lime sufficiently if the soil conditions are acidic. Then make a 1-meter-wide bed with a height of 20-30 cm. The distance between the beds is 30-40 cm.

Make a planting hole on the bed to form two rows with a distance between rows of 50-60 and a distance in rows of 30 cm. Put manure or compost into these planting holes, about one hand grip. For one hectare of plants it takes about 20 tons of manure or compost. Leave the compost for 1-3 days.

Chickpea Seed Setup

The cultivation of chickpeas is propagated by seeds selected from healthy and fertile plants. How to select it based on the best beds where chickpeas grow. The reason for choosing plants according to the beds is so that the aging process does not interfere with other plants.

If seed selection is selected based on the individual plant then there will be crop failure in other individuals growing in the same bed. This can happen because plants that experience the aging process of fruit will suck nutrients for other plants. So that plants whose fruit is not cleared will experience crop failure.

The selected fruit for the seed candidate is picked and selected. Choose a large fruit and perfect shape. Then dry the chickpeas under the hot sun to dry, usually 1-2 days. After drying, peel off the skin of the fruit and take the seeds.

Store the seeds in a clean glass bottle. After the bottle is fully filled with seeds, fill the mouth of the bottle with wood ash as the cover. The benefits of wood ash as a bottle cover medium absorb moisture. So that the environment in the bottle remains dry but still allows air exchange. Well-stored chickpea seeds can survive at room temperature for 6 months.

Chickpea Planting

The most effective way in the cultivation of chickpeas is to plant seeds directly without the seeding process. Put the chickpea seeds ready to plant into the hole that has been made. Fill each hole with 2 chickpea seeds. Then cover with soil, then flush periodically if the soil conditions are dry. The need for chickpea seeds is 50 kg per hectare.

Chickpeas begin to germinate at 3-7 days after planting. By the 7th day usually sprouts have grown in unison.

Potpourish Cultivation Treatment

Some of the treatments needed in the cultivation of chickpeas include soil raising, bamboo lenjer installation and aftershock fertilization. Chickpea plants are drought-resistant plants, we do not need to water them every day. Although rain only occurs once a week, chickpeas can still grow well. Watering is only done when the drought conditions are severe.

About 2 weeks after planting, raise the soil around the plant. This means that the soil covers the poking roots and strengthens the position of the roots. In addition, soil raising is intended to weed out the grinding plants. With the raising of the soil, the pest plant will be uprooted and die.

Installation of bamboo lenjer or irrigation can be done after the 2nd week. Install a 2-meter-long bamboo lenjer, then combine every four lenjers at the base of the top. Installation of lenjer is necessary so that the vines rise and the fruit does not hit the ground.

After fertilization is given in the 3rd week. Give one compost or manure that has matured on each plant. The total need for aftershock fertilizer is about 20 tons per hectare.

Pest And Disease Control

Pests encountered in the cultivation of chickpeas include leaf-cutting beetles that damage the transporter network. These beetles cause the plant to dry out and fail to flower. To repel it can be by giving biopesticides from gadung bush extract and kipaite.

But usually handling with biological pesticides does not last long. Therefore, manual handling is even more effective. Manual retrieval of beetles is still possible. Usually in a land measuring 100 square meters found 50-100 beetles.

Some other pests that often attack chickpeas are bean flies, aphids, grayworms, seed borers and flower caterpillars. Control by applying technical cultures such as rotating plants, planting in unison, cleaning and destroying the remains of pest hiding plants.

In addition to pests, diseases that often attack chickpeas include leaf mosaic disease, broom disease, bacterial wilt, anthracnose and powdery mildew. The way to prevent it is by improving drainage and uprooting dead plants.

Seeding that is completely free of disease will prevent attacks in the future. In addition carry out crop rotation with radish plants, carrots or flower cabbage. If you have to, do biological pesticide spraying.

Harvesting Chickpea Cultivation

Chickpeas begin to flower at 40 days after planting. By the age of 50 days, chickpeas can already be harvested. Chickpeas can be harvested once every 2 days by cutting. Cutting should be done carefully so that the flowers do not fall off. Harvesting can be done up to 10 times.

Usually at the first and second harvest hasinya reach 2-4 tons per hectare. In the third to fifth harvest will reach the peak and then decrease until the last harvest. The total yield of chickpea cultivation can reach 48 tons per hectare.