Jim Egan and I gave an update on pulses at last week’s LEADA Ag Expo in Cummins.  This article raises some of the points from our presentation for those who were not able to attend.

Pulse production on the Eyre Peninsula has been fairly static over the last five years and more.  Lupins have been easily the major pulse crop, with an average of 25,400 t from 22,000 ha.  Beans have been the next highest with 11,400 t from 8,800 ha, followed by peas with 6,900 t from 6,300 ha, then lentils 1,300 t from 1,100 ha and a very small area and production of chickpeas. We believe that the time is right for growers to reconsider the value of pulses in their rotations, due to recent higher pulse prices and returns, the rapid increase in fertiliser N costs and better varieties now available.  

Predicted gross margins, from the 2008 Farm Gross Margin Guide by Rural Solutions SA, show beans, lentils and chickpeas to have the highest returns of all cropping and livestock enterprises. The gross margin for chickpeas is highest, ranging from $435 / ha in medium rainfall environments up to $777 / ha in high rainfall.  Lentils are also highly profitable, at $393 / ha to $893 / ha, while beans range from $306 / ha to $585 / ha.  These estimates compare very favourably with APW wheat at $336 / ha to $474 / ha. 

New lupin, bean, pea, lentil and chickpea varieties are continually being released with improvements being made in yield, quality, disease and agronomic characteristics.
 
For lupins, Mandelup is still the leading variety on the EP with a 5 to 10 % yield advantage over all other released varieties across all sites. 

The most recent bean variety release, Nura, performs well, especially in the presence of the major foliar diseases, ascochyta blight and chocolate spot.  Nura’s yields are not necessarily higher, but the risk is lowered and management is made easier by a reduced need for fungicide sprays to control disease. 

Kaspa is the highest yielding field pea variety, with the highest long term average yield at the NVT site at Yeelanna.  However last year Yarrum out-yielded Kaspa at Yeelanna by 16 %.  Yarrum has only had limited evaluation in the SA, but it may provide an alternative in regions where powdery mildew is a regular problem, due to its higher level of resistance.
 
Two new lentil varieties are available for growers this year.  Nipper, a red lentil, is resistant to both ascochyta blight and botrytis grey mould and long term yields have been similar to Nugget.  Boomer, a green lentil, has been the highest yielding variety across SA for the last two years.  It is best adapted to medium rainfall areas, but has also done well under recent drier conditions.
 
The new high yielding chickpea, Genesis 090, is the first Kabuli type released in Australia with resistance to ascochyta blight.  Due to its equivalent or higher yields than desi varieties in southern Australia, this variety offers chickpea growers a high yielding ascochyta blight resistant alternative to desi chickpeas with potential to get higher prices for seed than for desi’s. 

If you would like more information fact sheets on these new varieties and new lines in the pipeline for potential release in the next couple of years, please contact me at the SARDI Field Crop Improvement Centre in Port Lincoln, on 8688 3417.

AUTHOR: Joanne Crouch, Research Agronomist, SARDI

CONTACT: Joanne Crouch, SARDI Field Crop Improvement Centre, Pt Lincoln Telephone: 8688 3417, Email crouch.joanne@saugov.sa.gov.au