REGINA – When you seed chickpeas, you have to start preparing in the spring.
That is, the spring of the year before you plan to plant the hot new legume.
The big “experiment” prairie farmers conducted with the crop in 1999 proved that in the right conditions, particularly in southern regions, chickpeas can be a good moneymaker. But in the wrong conditions, and there were a lot of them, it can be a bust.
Mike Kirk, who farms near Climax, Sask., near the United States border, has successfully grown the crop for several years.
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“It has been a real find for us,” he told the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association annual meeting.
“Are they profitable? The answer for me on my farm is yes. I’m trying not to be over anxious on this, but for where we farm it’s just absolutely super.”
While chickpeas are fairly drought resistant, they are weak when it comes to weed competition and disease.
The weed problem is made worse by the fact there are few herbicides registered for their use and none that control broadleaf weeds. That’s why it is so important to start with a clean field.
“We set up the production a year ahead,” Kirk said.
“You have to make sure your fields have been cleaned up.”
Once his chickpeas are seeded, but before emergence and just when the soil is cracking, Kirk sprays with a glyphosate.
“That kills everything to ground zero so everything starts at the same stage.”
In-crop grassy weed herbicides such as Poast, Select and Sencor are registered for chickpeas. However, timing is important because late spraying can damage the crop.
Kirk and other southern growers have been watching developments with herbicides in the U.S. and hope that might lead to special use registrations in Canada.
While weed control is important, ascochyta blight is the real threat.
Ron Cannon, of Kindersley, Sask., has grown chickpeas since 1995. He has had less success than Kirk, but still believes chickpeas have potential in his area.
Producers must scout the crop closely beginning in late June and if an area looks diseased, they must confirm it and treat immediately with the fungicide Bravo, he said.
“This can spread so quickly that you’ll lose it before you know it.”
Kirk said producers should study the disease to know what to look for.
“If you don’t know what to look for, find out what it is, because you are going to need to know without a shred of doubt,” he said.
Cannon warned against walking through diseased areas, because doing so helps the disease spread.
Last year he seeded on a 12-inch row spacing rather than nine inches, which he thinks allowed more air circulation in the crop, reducing disease pressure and allowing him to eliminate one fungicide application.
Sowing disease-free seed and avoiding ascochyta-susceptible cultivars are important. Semi-resistant varieties are Sanford, Dwelley and B90 in the kabuli family and Myles in the desi family.
Time of seeding is important. Farmers must watch soil temperature instead of the calendar.
“For me it’s a thermometer in the ground in the field you are going to seed,” Kirk said. “In our area we are saying you need 8 C minimum as an average temperature.”
It is best to wait for the soil to average 10 degrees, he said, but don’t wait too long because the crop takes a long time to mature.
Cannon said producers should seed at the rate recommended for the variety because a thin crop leads to lack of uniformity and slows development.
The seed must be sown into moisture with good packing and the land should be rolled after seeding.
More information on chickpea diseases is available at http://paridss.usask.ca/specialcrop/pulse_diseases/index.html. General information on chickpea production is available at www.vsource.com/saskpulse/cindex.htm.
– McMILLAN
