Herbicide induced physiological changes in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes

The present investigation was aimed to study the effect of two post-emergence herbicides (imazethapyr and carfentrazoneethyl) on physiology of twenty four chickpea genotypes under field conditions. According to our studies, significant variations in physiological parameters i.e., leghaemoglobin content, leaf area index, photosynthetic efficiency, hill reaction activity, cellular respiration and malondialdehyde content during reproductive phase revealed that herbicides affect physiological processes in plant. Dry weight of nodules, leghaemoglobin content in nodules, leaf area index and the photosynthetic rate was spotted high in tolerant genotypes. A negative effect of herbicidal treatments was recorded on yield i.e., imazethapyr showed 77% decrease while carfentrazone-ethyl had 31.7% which indicates that imazethapyr has more deleterious effect on plants. Based on physiological evaluations and yield attributes, tolerant genotypes were identified. Six genotypes GLW 11, GL 10047, PDG 4 following carfentrazone-ethyl treatment and GL 11026, GLW 44, PBG 5 following imazethapyr treatment were identified for herbicide tolerance. These results demonstrated possibility for use of herbicides in chickpea, unfolding the currently limited options for weed control and identifying tolerance among chickpea genotypes for post-emergence herbicide application.