SASKATOON – Scientists adopted a scatter gun approach to growing special crops in southwest Saskatchewan and hit the target.
By growing 20 or 30 special crops, scientists at the Agriculture Canada research station in Swift Current hoped a few would show promise in the traditional wheat area.
After three years, desai chickpeas, safflower, lentils, Polish canola and mustard all look promising, said Perry Miller research scientist at the station.
In the brown soil zone, a semi-circle covering southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta, cereals account for 52 percent of the acreage, summerfallow is another 40 percent, oilseeds are 5.5 percent and legumes are only 1.7 percent of the total acreage.
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In an area where producers’ choices have traditionally been wheat or summerfallow, scientists are looking for alternative crops that will fit in the rotation.
“Wheat will always be king at Swift Current,” said Miller.
When the scientists started the alternate crop plots three years ago they had nothing but bad luck. The weather in the first two years of the study was wetter and colder than normal. The data was useless.
This year the weather was closer to normal and researchers got some unexpected results.
Based on preliminary data on tests carried out on small research plots, this is what they learned:
- Desai chick peas have better drought tolerance than any grain legume. There was no difference if they were grown on fallow or stubble.
“We think peas will fit well after a cereal.”
- Safflower, the most drought-tolerant oilseed, was a disaster in the first two years of the study because of the wet and cold. With a return to more normal temperatures, safflower yielded close to 990 kilograms per acre (2,200 lb/acre), about five times what it yielded in the previous years.
- At the Assiniboia, Sask. plot site Express yellow peas yielded a low of 39 bu./acre and a high of 65 bu./acre. “Maybe there’s more potential than we thought,” said Miller.
- If canola is grown, Polish canola is the more “risk adverse.”
- Canola-quality mustard looks promising. “We’re quite excited about that.”
- There seemed to be little difference between yields of autumn coriander in years of excess moisture or in normal drier years.
