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Sharon Taylor, Central West Farming Systems - Greg Brooke, NSW Agriculture, Nyngan
Take Home Messages:
- Seasonal conditions of 2003 limited the yield of pulse crops, with the average yield below 0.5 t/ha
- The highest yielding pulse crop was Field peas, whilst vetch was the lowest yielding crop
- The highest yielding variety was Dundale field peas, whilst Excel field peas were the lowest yielding variety.
INTRODUCTION
In 2003 the Nyngan regional site group decided to investigate the yield potential of several pulse crops. These pulse crops included field peas, chick peas, faba beans, lupins and vetch. The trial was designed as a randomised block, with 3 replicates. It was located at 'Coreen' in a paddock which had failed wheat in 2002 and wheat in 2001. The trial was sown on the 2nd May with 50 cm of subsoil moisture and 130 kg/ha DAP fertiliser. The pulse varieties and their sowing rate can be seen in Table 1. Verdict®520 was used as an in-crop spray for grass weeds at 0.05 L/ha.
The rainfall figures for the Nyngan site can be seen in Figure 1. The annual rainfall was 348 mm, which is bellow average, whilst the growing season rainfall was 225 mm
RESULTS
The average yield of each of the pulse crops can be seen in Figure 2. This figure shows that field peas yielded significantly higher then all other crops, whilst vetch yielded lower then all other crops, except for lupins.
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Note: Bars that have different letters are significantly different. |
The average yield of each of the pulse varieties can be seen in Figure 3. This figure shows that the highest yielding pulse variety is Dundale field peas, whilst the lowest yielding pulse variety is Excel field peas.
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Note: Bars that have different letters are significantly different. |
DISCUSSION
The seasonal conditions of 2003 several limited the yield potential of the pulse crops in this trial, with the average yield less than 0.5 t/ha. A heatwave in early October, which was followed by several frosts, and a growing season rainfall of 225mm limited pulse yields. The pulse variety which was the most affected by late frost was Excel field peas. These late frosts aborted open flowers and caused developing seeds to be "snap frozen" in the pod and killed. The late frosts also combined with October rainfall resulted in the development of a disease, known as Bacterial blight. This disease limited yield to such an extent that Excel was, statistically, the lowest yielding variety in the trial. At the Southern New South Wales Grains Update in Wagga it was reported by Trevor Bretag (DPI, Horshum Vic) and Eric Armstrong (NSW Agriculture, Wagga NSW) that Bacterial blight was found in most field pea varieties in 2003. Although the most seriously affected varieties were Excel and Kaspa.
It can be concluded, from this trial, that in Nyngan in 2003, with difficult seasonal conditions, the pulse crop with the highest average yield was Field peas, whilst the pulse crop with the lowest average yield was vetch. In relation to varietal yields it can be concluded that Dundale field peas had the highest yield, whilst Excel field peas had the lowest yield, due to frost and Bacterial blight.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
On behalf of the Nyngan Regional Site group we would like to thank Will & Steven Carter, Tom Fitzgerald, Daryl Reardon, Jim Priestly, Tim McNee and Cath Evans. Your support and help with this trial was greatly appreciated.
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