The study aimed to determine the extent of the percentage of mechanical damage (seed breakage) to chickpea seeds due to the impact caused by free fall. Three independent variables were used in the test, namely: impact surface (concrete, metal, plywood and seed-on-seed), drop height (3, 6, 9, and 12 m) and seed moisture content (10, 15, 20, and 25% w.b.). The results showed that all three independent variables significantly influenced the percentage breakage of chickpea seeds. The seeds dropped onto concrete and metal had by a significant margin the highest means of percentage breakage at 13.89 and 12.94%, respectively, in comparison with 10.64 and 8.34% on plywood and in the case of seed to seed impact, respectively. Increasing the drop height from 3 to 12 m caused a significant increase in the mean values of damage to seeds from 7.20 to 15.57%. Increasing the moisture levels caused a decreasing trend by a factor of two in the damage to the seeds due to free fall. Empirical models were developed to reveal the relationships between damage to chickpea seeds with various moisture contents that was due to the impact with different impact surfaces caused by free fall from the drop height.K e y w o r d s: chickpea, mechanical damage, handling, drop height, contact surface