In Spain—Europe's leading chickpea producing country—chickpea ( Cicer arietinum ) is mainly cultivated on non‐irrigated soils with low native fertility. This study was carried out from 2006 to 2008 in the province of León, Spain, under acid soil field conditions, with the aim of determining whether the application of zinc (Zn), boron (B) and molybdenum (Mo) improved chickpea growth and yield on acid soils. A split‐split‐plot design with three replications was used. Chickpea responded only to the Zn and Mo applications. At maturity, plants fertilized with Zn and with Mo had a greater total dry matter production and seed yield, mainly due to an increment in pod dry matter. For Zn, the highest yield was obtained with 2 mg Zn per plant (6.80 g plant ⁻¹ ), whereas for Mo the highest yield was obtained with 1 mg Mo per plant (6.73 g plant ⁻¹ ). Interaction was observed between B and Mo, interpreted as indicating that Mo can counteract the effect of B application.

Visible, near, and shortwave infrared (VIS-NIR-SWIR) reflectance spectroscopy, a cost-effective and rapid means of characterizing soils, was used to predict soil sample properties for four vineyards (central and north-western Spain). Sieved and air-dried samples were measured using a portable spectroradiometer (350–2500 nm) and compared for pistol grip (PG) versus contact probe (CP) setups. Raw data processed using standard normal variate (SVN) and detrending transformation (DT) were grouped into four subsets (VIS: 350–700 nm; NIR: 701–1000 nm; SWIR: 1001–2500 nm; and full range: 350–2500 nm) in order to identify the most suitable range for determining soil characteristics. The performance of partial least squares regression (PLSR) models in predicting soil properties from reflectance spectra was evaluated by cross-validation. The four spectral subsets and transformed reflectances for each setup were used as PLSR predictor variables. The best performing PLSR models were obtained for pH, electrical conductivity, and phosphorous (R² values above 0.92), while models for sand, nitrogen, and potassium showed moderately good performances (R² values between 0.69 and 0.77). The SWIR subset and SVN + DT processing yielded the best PLSR models for both the PG and CP setups. VIS-NIR-SWIR reflectance spectroscopy shows promise as a technique for characterizing vineyard soils for precision viticulture purposes. Further studies will be carried out to corroborate our findings.

Spain is the main chickpea (Cicer arietinum) producing country in Europe, despite there are few studies on micronutrient application to chickpea. The response of chickpea to the applications of Zn, B and Mo was studied in pot experiments with natural conditions and acidic soils in northwest Spain from 2006 to 2008 following a factorial statistical pattern (5 × 2 × 2) with three replicates. Five concentrations of Zn (0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 mg Zn pot–1), two concentrations of B (0 and 2 mg B pot–1), and two concentrations of Mo (0 and 2 mg Mo pot–1) were added to the pots. Chickpea responded to the Zn, B and Mo applications. There were differences between soils. The mature plants fertilized with Zn, with B and with Mo had a greater total dry matter production. Harvest Index (HI) improved with the Zn application and with the Mo application. The highest HI was obtained with the Zn4× B2 × Mo2 treatment (60.30%) while the smallest HI was obtained with the Zn0 × B0 × Mo0 treatment (47.65%). The Zn, B and Mo applications improved seed yield, mainly due to the number of pods per plant. This was the yield component that had the most influence on, and the most correlation with seed yield. The highest seed yield was obtained from the Zn4 × B2 × Mo2 treatment (4.00 g plant–1) while the lowest was obtained from the Zn0 × B0 × Mo0 treatment (2.31 g plant–1). There was a low interaction between the three micronutrients. The Zn application was more efficient when it was applied with both B and Mo.

Root rots are the main diseases caused by soil fungi and their incidence can vary according to seed treatment and sowing techniques used. They cause loss of plants, limit establishment, and canlead to reduced plant development. There are negative correlations between yield and the presence of root rots. This work was carried out in 1998 and 1999 in the province of León, Spain. The factors investigated were respectively —bean landrace ( Phaseolus vulgaris ), pesticide application system, and sowing technique. Differences were noticed in response to sowing techniques where the number of damaged plants was higher with sowing in furrows (mean, 1.31% plants affected). With regard to pesticide application differences were only observed at Ribas in 1999, where there was reduced plant damage (83% with seed treated and 97% with soil treated in the row). There was a significant pesticide application by sowing technique interaction at Ribas 1999. Rhizoctonia solani was detected in 91.8% of affected plants.