Reaching the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers yield targets for pulses will not be easy.
“We have a target of increasing the average yield of lentils to 27 bushels to the acre by 2025, and peas to 43 bushels to the acre,” said Sherrilyn Phelps, SaskPulse agronomy manager.
“That’s increasing the lentil yield by three bushels and increasing the pea yield by four bushels.”
Phelps provided agronomic tips during CropSphere to help growers plan their 2020 pea and lentil crops.
She said growers should know their seed’s characteristics.
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“By getting your seed tested, you can get an idea of the vigour, the germination, the thousand kernel weight so you get to know what your seed size is, the levels of disease and whether there is mechanical or herbicide damage,” Phelps said.
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers conducted a survey of the 2019 seed tested at Saskatchewan seed labs.
Phelps said the disease levels on pulse seed are fairly low in Saskatchewan this year, although the ascochyta levels are somewhat elevated in peas.
Fortunately, ascochyta isn’t highly transmissible from the seed to seedling.
“You need about 10 percent or higher to really warrant that effect on the seed quality at emergence. But it is something to watch,” she said.
The average ascochyta level was 4.9 across the province, but there are some higher levels in northern areas of the province.
“So when you’re looking at sourcing new seed and varieties, make sure that you know where you’re getting it from and make sure that it’s tested for disease levels,” Phelps said.
The recommended seeding rates for peas is approximately 85 plants per sq. metre, and lentils should be around 120 to 130 plants per sq. metre.
“But recent work by Dr. Steve Shirtliffe has actually shown that higher rates can increase yields further by increasing your competition with weeds. There are new rates (for lentils) adjusted up to 200 plants per sq. metre. That’s a higher seeding rate then we’re used to,” Phelps said.
She said there is variability in pea and lentil seed size, so it’s crucial growers use 1,000 kernel weight when setting their seeder.
“Individual seed size depends on what the environment was when they were growing,” Phelps said.
“We can’t stress enough, unless you’re calculating your seeding rates based on your seed size, you may not be getting enough seed in the ground to even target those minimum plant populations.”
She said the evidence is clear that shortening rotations with a pea and /or lentil to every two, three or even four years is not sustainable, because root rots are robbing yields across the province in average years and will devastate crops in wet years.
So, to keep the spore load of root rots down, including aphanomyces, growers should extend their rotations beyond every four years to protect the yield they have.
Phelps said seed treatments are effective and recommended when soil-borne disease is present. However, growers can get away without a seed treatment under the right conditions.
Growers need to know the disease risks on their farm.
“The seed quality, just knowing what type of crops you’re growing, if it has tannins in the seed coat. Are you seeding early into cold soils, wet soils? Is there a history of soil-borne diseases? Is there any disease on the seed? Is there any mechanical damage, and what’s your risk for insects, such as pea leaf weevil and wireworms?” Phelps said.
Pulses are good scavengers of phosphorus because they acidify the soil zone around the roots, which helps make phosphorus more available. They also form associations with micro-organisms in the soil, which help extend their root systems and access nutrients.
However, when soil phosphorus levels are low, peas can respond to side-banded phosphorus, she said.
Growers should also make sure they replace the nutrients they take out.
“For peas, every bushel that you take out of the field you’re removing .07 pounds of phosphorus,” Phelps said.
“So if you’re targeting a 50-bu. pea crop, 35 lb. of phosphorus would be a recommended target. Lentils at 30 bu. at .6 lb. of phosphorus per bu. would require 18 lb.”
She said phosphorus can either be put on the year before the crop, or with the crop. However, there are seed safety issues with peas and lentils.
“You want to be maximizing seed placed fertilizer at 15 to 20 lb. per acre based on work that Dr. Jeff Schoenau has done,” Phelps said.
Schoenau has also looked into seed safety issues for peas and lentils with nitrogen.
“He did a lot of work on different blends, and he found that both peas and lentils are very sensitive to seed-placed nitrogen, so your maximum rate to be looking at with peas and lentils is 10 lb. an acre,” Phelps said.
