Desi Chickpeas are smaller, angular seeds with thick seed coats that range in colour from light tan and speckled to solid black. This type of Chickpea is mainly grown in India, Bangladesh, parts of Pakistan, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Iran. Desi Chickpeas are the most widely grown under dry land.

The chickpeas, also known as a garbanzo bean, ceci bean, sanagalu, chana, hummus and Bengal gram has an interesting fact behind its name. It’s called Chickpea because it looks like baby chick. This pulse is estimated to be at least 7,500 years old and was originally cultivated at Mesopotamia and The eastern Mediterranean. Currently, it is grown in India, Middle East and various parts of Africa. This highly nutritious pulse is ranked third in the important list of the food legumes that are cultivated throughout the world.
India is the largest producer of Chickpeas and approx 80-90% supply of Chickpeas to the world is from India.
Seeding of Chickpeas can be done into standing or tilted stubble and fallow. Kabuli chickpeas are planted when soil temperature at a depth of 2 inches to 3 inches reaches at least 10ºC while Desi types are planted in soil that is 4 ºC or above to reduce soil-burn diseases.

Chickpea is an annual crop, cultivated in cool season. Fertile sandy & loam soil in various parts of India provide perfect condition for Chickpea growth. Indian weather conditions of 21 ºC to 26 ºC daytime temperatures and 17 ºC to 21 ºC night temperatures also favor this crop. Chickpeas have deep tap root system so they can endure drought conditions by extracting water from deeper soil. Maturing time require for Chickpeas is 120 days.