Pulse production in Australia past, present and future

Abstract

Summary. Several cool- and warm-season pulse crops (grain legumes) are grown in rotation with cereals and pasture forming sustainable farming systems in Australia. Australian pulse production has increased rapidly over the past 25 years to about 2 x 10⁶ t/year, mainly because of the increase in the area and yield of lupin production for stockfeed purposes. Pulses currently comprise only 10% of the cropping areas of Australia and this could be expanded to 16% as there are large areas of soil types suitable for a range of pulse crops and new better-adapted pulse varieties are becoming available. Cool-season pulses will continue to dominate pulse production in Australia and the majority of the expansion will probably come from chickpea and faba bean industries. There appears to be no major constraint to pulse production in Australia that cannot be addressed by breeders, agronomists and farmers. Of the current major pulse crops, field pea faces the most number of difficulties, in particular the lack of disease management options. A recent strategic plan of the Australian pulse industry predicts the production of 4 x 10⁶ t/year by 2005 but this will largely depend upon export demand and pulse prices. It is predicted that the growth in pulse production will come from increased productivity in the existing areas, from 1.0 to 1.4 t/ha, through improvements in crop management and the development of superior varieties. The area of pulse production will also expand by an additional 1.2 x 10⁶ ha probably yielding 1.0 t/ha. If trends in grazing stock prices continue, the increased area under pulse production will mostly come at the expense of those areas under unimproved pasture and continuous cereal cropping.