Plant · P-235

Chickpea

Cicer arietinum

Chickpea is a fussy dry-season pulse: its hairy pods hold moisture that invites fungal blight, so getting a harvest depends on timing the planting so flowering and pod fill land after spring rain breaks and finish before summer heat. The dry or fresh seed goes into soups and stews, the young pods and shoots are edible too, and the seed can be parched, ground to flour, or roasted as a coffee substitute. Its roots fix nitrogen and release it to the soil if left in the ground at harvest, though the foliage and pods carry an irritant that calls for gloves at harvest time.