MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Moisture is the limiting factor for most pulse crops in the brown and dark brown soil zones of southern Saskatchewan.
Provincial soil specialist Ken Panchuk said producers should select fields on which to grow pulses based on moisture availability, not nitrogen.
Since pulses don’t require additional nitrogen fertilizer, moisture is the key, he told a workshop.
Panchuk recommended seeding into standing stubble, using zero or minimum tillage methods and narrow openers. Pulses best follow cereal crops, to take advantage of the stubble.
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“Seeding early is a moisture management strategy,” he said.
Lentils can generally be planted earliest, followed by peas, desi chickpeas, kabuli chickpeas and then beans.
Panchuk said seeding into stubble can help reduce evaporation and the effect of wind on young plants. Taller stubble provides cooler soil temperatures and a warmer canopy as well.
But stubble height should not be greater than the spacing for zero-till shank seeders with spoons.
It can be higher for disk-coulter or knife opener seeders.
“Consider tall stubble technology as you upgrade (seeding equipment),” Panchuk said.
Applying phosphate with the seed or sidebanding it near the seed can also help moisture use.
Pulses are a shallow rooted crop. They need energy from phosphate for early root growth and to optimize their nitrogen fixing capabilities. Panchuk said 15 pounds of monoammonium phosphate per acre of peas, and 20 lb. per acre for lentils and chickpeas is the maximum safe rate, based on good to excellent soil moisture.
Any unused phosphate will remain in the soil for future, but there are agronomic and economic benefits of application to consider.
“An annual application of phosphate delivers benefits from the first 15 to 20 lb.,” Panchuk said.
However, abruptly eliminating phosphate application can result in severe yield losses within a few years.
Panchuk also said that while pulses don’t require much nitrogen, starter nitrogen applied in an 11-52-0 monoammonium phosphate, for example, could provide all a crop needs.
Too much additional starter nitrogen can cause a delay in nodule formation because the plants will prefer to use the nitrogen available in the soil.
Panchuk’s final recommendation to producers was to always inoculate in order to introduce a fresh population of rhizobia each time they seed.
