Chickpeas have caught fire and appear set to burn up a big acreage in the southern Prairies this year.
Analysts are predicting farmers will seed 250,000-350,000 acres to the crop, sometimes called garbanzo beans, this spring. That acreage is up from about 95,000 acres in 1998.
It is a huge increase for a crop that was almost unknown in Canada four years ago.
“For the western Canadian farmers chickpea prices are really good now. And in combination with that, it has been remarkably easy to sell the crop and those two factors combined, I think, will make it an irresistible option for a lot of people,” said Brian Clancey, publisher of Stat Publishing, a special crops analyst.
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Clancey predicts 250,000 acres. Agriculture Canada special crops analyst Stan Skrypetz estimates about the same acreage but notes some marketers and analysts are thinking even more land will go into the crop.
“Most of the people I’ve talked to feel that the increase will be for both desi and kabuli types, but especially kabuli types. Kabulis yield about 10 percent less, (but) the prices are so much higher it is worthwhile to grow them,” Skrypetz said.
His survey indicates as much as 70 percent of the acreage will be kabuli.
Clancey is skeptical of the high estimates, noting strong demand will make seed supplies scarce and expensive.
“If you are in a 40 cent per pound market, you are looking at 60 cents for seed.”
Given that cost, farmers should ensure they are getting viable seed by asking for samples and doing germination tests, he said.
As for price next year, Clancey and Skrypetz both expect values to drop a little. Agriculture Canada estimates an average price of 17-19 cents a pound compared to 18-20 cents in 1998-99. That is still better than in 1997-98.
“Common sense tells you that prices next year are unlikely to be as high as they were this season,” Clancey said.
But it isn’t Canadian production that will influence the market, said Skrypetz.
The market is largely determined by what happens in the Indian subcontinent. India is a huge producer of pulse crops and consumes all it grows.
The country had a poor chickpea crop in 1998, down to about 4.75 million tonnes from a crop of 5.3 million tonnes in 1997.
Crops were also down in other importing countries such as Pakistan, Spain and the United States. Exporting countries such as Turkey, Australia and Mexico also had poor crops.
