Chickpea harvest in June!
Always looking to explore opportunities, Penberthy Agricultural Consultants principal agronomist, Drew Penberthy, plans to harvest chickpeas this week near Bellata NSW. That’s right, he’s going to harvest chickpeas in June.
The harvest is the final step in the proof of concept that chickpeas can be grown out of the traditional growing period. It is the first commercial crop following plot trials at the University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute (Narrabri) conducted by Angela Patterson, a chickpea pre-breeder.
The PBA Seamer chickpeas were planted on January 24th 2020 and while harvest is slightly later than planned, Drew is extremely happy with how the commercial crop has progressed.
“The season went a bit longer than anticipated due to cool and wet weather,” said Drew.
“We planted at 80kg/ha targeting 30 plants per square metre, but in hindsight it should have been 40 plants per square metre to maximise yield.”
Drew stressed that management and paddock choice is critical for the success of the crop.
“Chickpeas grown at this time of year represent an opportunistic crop rather a planned rotation. It’s well suited to when there’s been a wet cereal harvest, the wheel tracks are damaged and the country needs to be farmed leaving no ground cover,” he explained.
“The out-of-season chickpeas give ground cover and facilitate weed control, especially some of the difficult to kill summer grasses. If the season is favourable, a successful harvest will be a bonus.”
A thorough evaluation of the appropriateness of the window and crops on neighbouring properties needs to be undertaken.
“It needs good starter fertiliser rates with potassium, a higher plant population than normal and careful management of fungus, weeds and insects,” said Drew.
“We expected that virus might be an issue as the season cooled for this crop, but it proved not to be the case.”
Research shows that if planted prior to late January, yield is reduced due to heat stress. If planted too late, the chickpeas fail to mature for harvest. PBA Seamer seems to have a determinate growth habit compared to other commercial lines and therefore appears better suited for this planting window in the north west of NSW.
This year’s commercial crop of summer/autumn chickpeas totalled 420 hectares across four sites between Narrabri and Bellata. It received between 360mm and 460mm of in-crop rainfall.
While we won’t see it every year, the success of the crop gives food for thought for options following cereal harvest 2020.
Contact Drew Penberthy via drew@penagcon.com.au or on 0427 255 752 to find out more.
Pic: Michael Guest and Drew Penberthy examining the crop near Bellata NSW.
by Michael Guest in Latest News
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