Ascochyta blight and weed density affected by the rolling times and the packing force levels of land roller in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) production

A field experiment was conducted to examine the impacts of the rolling times [pre-emergence and post-emergence] and the packing force levels of land roller [0 kNm⁻¹, 2.15 kNm⁻¹, 2.70 kNm⁻¹, 3.27 kNm⁻¹, 3.84 kNm⁻¹, 4.41 kNm⁻¹] on the disease severity of Ascochyta blight (AB), total weed density, dry weed biomass weight, the density of dominant weed species and grain yield per plant in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) production. The effect of land rolling time on total weed density, dry weed biomass weight and grain weight per plant was not significant, but land rolling at post-emergence (61.34%) had significantly higher disease severity of AB than that at pre-emergence (51.87%). The packing force levels of land roller had a significant effect on the disease severity of AB, total weed density, dry weed biomass weight and grain yield per plant. The increased packing force of land roller increased the disease severity of AB. The dry weed biomass weight and total weed density was the highest at the 2.70 kNm⁻¹ of the packing force while the 3.27 kNm⁻¹ of the packing force resulted in the highest grain weight per plant among treatments.