In three years the area planted to chickpeas by a group of Nyngan-based growers has jumped from 120 to 1600 hectares and the reason is simple economics.

Peter Roberts, agronomist for the 13-member group, says that conventional wisdom reckons on getting twice the price but half the yield of chickpeas in comparison to wheat.

"We get the same yield of chickpeas as wheat and there is the advantage of additional protein for the following wheat crop and better weed control," Mr Roberts said.

Between them the members of the group farm 40,000ha of widely differing country. They recently recognised the need to get a pulse crop into the rotation. Mr Roberts credits this need and the desire of the members to accelerate their learning experience for his appointment as agronomist.

"Pulses, chickpeas, peas and to some extent lupins have replaced lucerne in the rotation," he said.

"Chickpeas are ideally suited to the district. Our frost risk is low so that we can sow early, it's warm early in the season and by September the temperature is about 28 degrees - ideal for the crop."

The group has been trialling different row spacings with the crop, moving from a traditional 30-60cm spacing. A district record crop of 1.9 tonnes per hectare was produced on metre row spacings.

"The wide rows make it easier to sow into stubble and open the possibilities of shielded spraying, but most of all they reduce the competition for moisture in late spring. The crop isn't deep rooted and it has to go looking for moisture."

Ascochyta blight has never been a problem in the area, Mr Roberts said.

"We have the advantage of land," he said. "It means that we can stick to the basics, never following peas with peas and keeping new paddocks well away from old. We make certain to use clean seed. With the wide row spacings the plants aren't touching until September and if we get the disease in the crop it's likely to be confined to a single row."

Mr Roberts credits the success of chickpeas for the willingness of the group members to try new crops.

"Seventy-five percent of the members are running stock and I tell them if you don't like the price of chickpeas at harvest, store them and put them through a cow," he said. Mr Roberts said that field peas are also proving to be a revolution in the district and expects the next big crop to be mustard.

Danny Dutton, a member of the group, said that while they farm across widely differing soil types there are no real secrets between the members of the group.

"It's difficult to benchmark best practices but the real advantage is the ability of the group to share information. We have three or four group meetings a year and we're involved in paddock action mapping, recording each working and spray against yield and price. The information is all collated by Peter Roberts and we get a true idea of the profitability of our actions. The group is all about increasing our economic and agronomic sustainability."

For more information contact Peter Roberts on (02) 6833 0612 or Danny Dutton on (02) 6833 0618