Blanco

Common chickpea (Cicer arietinum), also known as Turkish or goat's pea, is an annual leguminous plant widely used as a grain legume crop. The plant features an upright stem, 20–70 cm tall, covered with glandular hairs, and odd-pinnate leaves. Pods are approximately 0.5–1.5 cm in diameter, containing 1–3 seeds, with a characteristic wrinkled and rough surface and color ranging from yellow to dark. The 1000-seed mass varies from 150 to 390 g depending on variety and growing conditions. Chickpea is self-pollinating, with a vegetation period of 90–110 days, and germination begins at 3–8°C. The plant is warm-loving but highly cold-tolerant, surviving frosts down to -8–10°C. The Blanco variety, registered in the State Register of Plant Varieties of Ukraine in 2020 and recommended for cultivation in southern regions of the country, exhibits a semi-upright habit and medium height of about 50–55 cm. It is characterized by weak green coloration of leaves and pods, white flowers, and early flowering. The variety demonstrates high drought, lodging, and shattering resistance, scoring maximum points (9 out of 9) on these traits. It also exhibits high resistance to diseases such as ascochytosis and root rots, as well as pests, allowing cultivation without insecticides. During its 92–95-day vegetation period, it produces a grain yield with protein content around 30% and 1000-seed mass of 380–390 g. Chickpea is a high-tech crop that does not exhaust soil and serves as an excellent preceding crop for many agricultural crops due to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen at rates of 80–150 kg/ha. This provides additional nutrition for subsequent crops. Chickpea seeds contain significant amounts of potassium, calcium, and selenium, and are a source of essential amino acids lysine and tryptophan. The yield of the Blanco variety, at standard moisture content of 14%, reaches 2.0–2.5 t/ha. For successful cultivation, optimal temperature conditions should be considered, and prolonged rainfall should be avoided, as it may promote fungal diseases such as ascochytosis and fusarium.