Growth and yield response of wheat and chickpea crops under high temperature

Increasing temperature is likely to affect productivity of wheat and chickpea crop. A field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years with wheat and chickpea crop raised inside the temperature gradient tunnel (TGT). Results showed that high temperature reduced crop growth duration in both the crops. Days to 50 % flowering reduced by 4–5 days in wheat with 1.8–2.9 °C increase in temperature. Photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance and leaf area index reduced with the rise in temperature. High temperature inside the TGT caused reduction in both biomass and grain yield of wheat crop in both the years and the reductions in yield per degree temperature rise was 10.4–10.5 % in wheat crop. Number of spikes per plant, number of grains per spike, 1,000 seed weight was also affected with increased temperature. In case of chickpea crop, yield declined with the increase in temperature during the 2008–2009 year and the decline per degree temperature rise was 6.8 %. During the year 2007–2008, 1.7 °C increase in temperature showed improvement in biomass and grain yield in chickpea. Low air temperature during the crop growth period in 2007–2008 could be responsible for increased growth of chickpea under high temperature. This suggests that rise in temperature in future climatic change scenario will adversely affect wheat and chickpea crop but the response will be crop and region specific depending upon the existing climate conditions.