By KIRSTEN LEATHERDALE, of the Weyburn Review
Some Weyburn-area farmers have turned to chickpea production as a way to sustain their farms in the wake of a depressed market for cereal grains, and the local extension agrologist says many more plan to follow when planting this year's crop.
"We desperately need another crop to grow in rotation around here, and we desperately need more varieties with good drought-resistance that will suit our soil zones. For that reason, there's a tremendous interest in growing (chickpeas), and as seed costs go down, we'll see a much greater increase. The number of acres are doubling every year," said agrologist Elaine Moats.
Chickpea is an ancient pulse crop first grown in Turkey around 7,000 B.C. The two main commercial classes of chickpeas are described as desi and kabuli. The desi type has a thick, coloured seed coat with coloured flowers, and a long history of production in the Indian subcontinent to be split or milled for food products. The kabuli type (otherwise known as garbanzo bean) has a thin, white seed coat with white flowers, and is used mainly in salad bars and vegetable mixes.
The crop is relatively drought-tolerant due to its long tap root allowing it to use water from greater depths than other pulse crops. It does not tolerate wet or waterlogged soils.
High seed costs, limited availability of varieties adapted to the area, and lack of weed control options are some of the disadvantages of growing the crop, said Moats. But researchers continue to look into ways to make the crop more farmer-friendly.
A chickpea regional trial program, conducted by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, was initiated south of Weyburn in 1995 to compare varietal adaptation. The results showed that because of their late maturity, the kabuli varieties Sanford, Dwelley, and B-90 are best suited to the Brown soil zone and to stubble fields in the Dark Brown soil zone, which Weyburn-area farms fall under.
Radville farmer Kent Pierce was looking for a better drought-tolerant pulse crop to grow in the south, and chickpeas fit the bill. "They fit right in down south here," he said.
Pierce tried a 40-acre crop of both kabuli and desi varieties. The desi was "a total write-off" he said, due to destruction of the field by ascochyta rabiei - a devastating seed and residue-borne fungus that can completely destroy chickpea plants. The disease can survive for several years on infected crop residues in the soil, so once this disease has occurred, it may not be possible to grow susceptible chickpea varieties in the same field again.
However, Pierce's kabuli variety was a success. "It was the easiest-managed new crop we've tried to grow," he said.
Since the kabuli was the last seed planted and the last to be harvested, it didn't interfere with the production of Pierce's other crops.
Harvesting chickpeas is similar to harvesting lentils. The same specialized equipment, such as a floating cutterbar, is useful due to the short stature of the crop. It's usually straight-cut harvested, but can be swathed prior to combining, depending on uniformity of maturity and weed problems. No desiccants are registered for use in chickpea in Canada. Drought stress will often result in normal dry down of the entire plant by the time the seed is dry enough to thresh.
He sold the crop as seed for about $150 per acre in 1997 and 1998.
"There are a few buyers now for the market, but ours were sold as common seed."
At a farm production show in Saskatoon three years ago, Ceylon farmer Dan Pflanzner first heard about the benefits of growing chickpeas.
"It was a new pulse crop that sounded like it had good potential for drought areas in the south - and it has a long growing season, which we're fortunate to have here," he said.
After a bit of investigating, he decided to try them. He's been growing the crop in rotation with lentils and peas successfully ever since, seeding 300 acres last year.
"So far it's been a good crop price-wise - they've been selling stronger than cereals," said Pflanzner, who has received up to 40 cents per pound (approximately $24 per bushel) at times for his Sanford variety crop, sold for seed and food production.
The seed costs for chickpeas ranges in cost from $20 to $25 per acre for the desi variety while it runs from$70 to $80 per acre for the kabuli variety.
Sanford is an ascochyta blight-resistant kabuli (large-seeded) variety that is late maturing in Saskatchewan.
Other ascochyta blight-resistant varieties include Dwelley, which has the same characteristics as Sanford, B-90, a small-seeded kabuli with a round seed shape, CDC Yuma, which has improved adaptation to Saskatchewan conditions but a limited seed supply, and Myles, a small-seeded desi (brown seedcoat) variety.
Pflanzner plans on growing Sanford kabuli again this year - the amount will depend on the weather, which determines the length of the growing season.
He processes his crop at a small seed plant in Limerick. As interest grows, Pflanzner predicts more facilities to handle chickpeas in Saskatchewan will be popping up.
"There's lots of interest in it, and I get asked lots of questions. I guess everybody's trying to look at something different because the price of wheat is pretty depressed right now," he said.
According to information from Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food on chickpeas, a significant opportunity exists for Canada to export the crop into U.S., European, and Mediterranean chickpea markets. Currently India produces and consumes 90 per cent of the world's chickpea crop.
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