Growers wanting to avoid sowing wheat on wheat and looking for a cereal disease break should consider field peas in their rotations.

The advent of Kaspa*, a variety with the advantage of easier harvesting, while maintaining crop vigour and yield, makes such a decision even easier.

Peter White of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia (DAWA), with support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), is focusing on better agronomics for field pea crops in Western Australia.

With seed sales figures suggesting 2005 will see more than 25,000 hectares of Kaspa field peas planted for seed across WA, demand for such information will be strong.

GRDC-supported DAWA trials show Kaspa, a semi leafless variety, can produce reliably yielding crops over a range of soils and environments. Its resilience is due to good early vigour, reduced lodging and reduced pod shatter.

Dr White said that field peas provide a good break for cereal diseases, are a profitable crop in their own right and, as a bonus, offer numerous other benefits to growers, including:

• The best range of herbicides of all the grain legume options that can be used for weed management.
• Cost effective weed control and help in managing herbicide resistant grasses in cereal rotations.
• One of the most effective ways of managing nematodes in cereal rotations.
• Fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere, making it available for the following crop, providing higher yields and protein in cereal crops
• Later sowing and earlier harvesting than wheat, avoiding clashes and providing growers with the opportunity to expand their cropping without having to increase capital expenditure.

Of course, while peas can be quite profitable in some years, growers should always look at the two year gross margin of peas and the following crop.

* Plant Breeders Rights