South Perth, Western Australia
July 28, 2005
Department of Agriculture
pulse researcher Mark Seymour said
Western Australian
grain growers
had reported excellent yields in cereals following a weed-free
field pea crop.
Mr Seymour said field peas were well suited to
the soil, climate and farming systems in Western Australia and
were proving to be a valuable rotation option across the
grainbelt.
“The break crop value of any legume crop is a
combination of nitrogen balance and disease break. Field peas
maintain nitrogen and organic carbon levels in soil and in some
instances may build them up,” Mr Seymour said.
“They usually outperform chickpea and lentil, but
the total effect will depend on a number of factors such as
total biomass, amount removed in grain, tillage, out of season
rainfall, climate and soil type.
“The fact that field peas are more consistent
across soil types, seasons and climates than other grain legume
options usually results in more consistent responses in
following cereal crops.”
Mr Seymour said if grasses were removed in field
peas, the incidence and severity of Take-all, root rots and
Cereal Cyst Nematode in following cereal crops was reduced.
Field peas also have an added benefit of being
resistant to two root lesion nematodes - Pratylenchus
neglectus and Pratylenchus thornei. Therefore, a
combination of field peas and tolerant or resistant cereal
varieties would assist growers in managing nematodes.
“Field peas provide growers with good options for
the control of broadleaf weeds including effective pre and post
sowing herbicide strategies,” he said.
“Finding safe effective herbicides for post
emergent control in faba bean, vetch and chickpea is an
important issue. However, in field pea crops there are numerous
options for controlling problem weeds such as wild radish,
turnip and mustard.”
As a ryegrass resistance strategy, field peas are
well suited to crop topping and can be made into hay for green
or brown manuring to manage problem paddocks.
Being sown late gives more time for winter weeds
to germinate prior to sowing, allowing for effective
non-selective control using chemical or cultural techniques. |