New chickpeas overcome limitation
The attempts to develop an ascochyta-resistant chickpea variety that was adapted for Saskatchewan growing conditions began at the Crop Development Centre in Saskatoon in the early 1970s.
The first of the two successful results, the large-seed kabuli chickpea, will be available for release to the Saskatchewan pulse industry next year. The second, the small-seed desi chickpea, will be released in 1998, says Al Slinkard, the centre’s senior research scientist.
With the development of the two new varieties, the chickpea sector of Saskatchewan’s pulse industry has started on what Slinkard predicts will be a dramatic expansion.
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“Chickpea is the world’s third-largest pulse crop, with annual production about four times that of lentil. International trade volume of chickpea is similar to lentil.
“Furthermore, the crop is well adapted to the brown and dark brown soil zones of Saskatchewan. The major initial biological limitation to production in this province was ascochyta blight, which has now been removed,” said Slinkard.
Kabuli and desi chickpea are currently grown in regional trial plots at 16 sites across the province. For more information about these sites, contact the nearest Rural Service Centre.
– Saskatchewan Agriculture’
