Submitter: ICRISAT
Cereal-based monocropping systems lead to:
To date, and in the face of climate change and variability, we believe that mainstreaming chickpea in cereal-dominated monocropping systems would enhance systems resilience, allow exploiting the nutritional, economic, and environmental sustainability potential of chickpea .
Bale Highlands (South-eastern parts) of Ethiopia, where the wheat monocropping systems are practiced, and vertisol-dominant areas
Increased Productivity. For example, chickpea can fix 60-80% of its nitrogen requirements from the atmosphere (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1372082/full). Accordingly, from a recent study for example, growing wheat after chickpea can lead to a yield increase equivalent to applying 60 kg of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare. This highlights the significant economic and productivity benefits for farmers who save on fertilizer costs while achieving higher yields ((https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1372082/full).
Increased food security (Conrad et al., 2021).Ethiopia produces over more than 450,000 metric tons of chickpea annually, with close to three-quarters—consumed on-farm for food, feed, or seed (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329739454_Economic_Analysis_of_Chickpea_Production_in_Damot_Gale_District_Southern_Ethiopia)
Increased annual agricultural outputs (impacting national economic growth) More recently, chickpea was identified as the third most important export legume, generating approximately $61 million USD annually (https://www.rural21.com/english/scientific-world/detail/article/chickpea-yield-in-ethiopia-could-be-doubled.html)
Low-cost, adaptable, partner-ready, etc.
