Pulse field day proves very popular with more than 90 attending

More than 90 producers and advisors attended a highly successful pulse field day at NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) Wagga Wagga Agricultural Research Institute on Friday (26 October).

NSW DPI research agronomist and organiser of the event, Dr Eric Armstrong, said the atmosphere at the field day was buoyant due to good prices for pulses and demand for a quality product.

"It is an exciting time for growers with increasing demand coming from domestic and international markets," he said.

"One particularly interesting presentation on the day was from Associate Professor Chris Blanchard from Charles Sturt University who reported on recent research identifying the health benefits of pulses, including the extraction of anti-cancer agents from faba bean."

Dr Armstrong said producers and advisors attending the field day were enthusiastic and asked lots of questions.

"Much of their interest was driven by an increasing need for supplementary nitrogen and for a break crop in southern NSW cropping systems, which have in recent times become dominated by continuous cropping and rotations of wheat and canola," he said.

"While fertiliser has been the main means of supplying nitrogen requirements, its management, timing of application, availability and pricing have all made this option risky and expensive, which has led to a surge in interest by many growers and advisers in pulses - to provide a biologically fixed form of nitrogen."

Dr Armstrong said at the field day growers discussed two quite different approaches to utilising pulses in the cropping system.

"Some were strongly in favour of the 'brown manuring' (crop sprayed out with chemical) option, while other producers favoured the traditional approach of growing the crop through to grain," he said.

Dr Armstrong said the field day highlighted progress on breeding as well as the agronomy of lupin, field pea, chickpea, faba bean and lentil for grain.

"These breeding programs have been operating across Australia for about 20 years, and the efforts of this groundwork and experience are now paying dividends with the release of new varieties better adapted to southern NSW with higher, more stable yields and good cross-disease resistances," he said.

The field day was organised to coincide with the annual meeting of Australia‟s pulse breeders and agronomists at Wagga Wagga, which meant field day attendees could tap into expert advice from across Australia.

Dr Armstrong thanked the Eurongilly CWA who provided a great breakfast in keeping with the pulse theme using lupin cereal and lentil and chickpea meatballs with hummus dip.

Photo available from sarahc@sf.nsw.gov.au

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