Pigeon pea is being explored as a new broadacre summer pulse crop option in Queensland and northern NSW due to its adaptability to the hotter and drier conditions. It also has the potential to reduce the need for nitrogen fertilisers
One of the most consumed pulse crops in the world behind chickpea, pigeon pea is a key ingredient in Indian recipes, where it is known as toor dahl.
The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has partnered with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and the Woods Group to explore pigeon pea as a new broadacre summer pulse crop option in Queensland and northern NSW.
Pigeon pea is currently grown in Australia, but mostly as a trap crop, also known as a refuge crop, planted to attract pests away from cotton being grown nearby.
However, DAF research in 2020 found that pigeon pea has clear potential to move beyond its current role as a trap crop to become a key summer pulse crop for the northern grain growing region.
With this greater potential in mind, Queensland’s DAF has partnered with GRDC to explore pigeon pea as a viable broadacre cropping option.
GRDC grower relations manager – north, Rebecca Raymond, says in order to establish a minimum viable industry, growers want to see viable and profitable varieties and evidence of a pathway to production success.
“Through consultation via GRDC’s National Grower Network, and building on previous work done by DAF, we know that the northern grains industry needs a robust summer pulse that is easier to manage and more adaptable than current options, particularly for the drier and hotter regions of south-west Queensland and north-west New South Wales,” she says.
“However, we need to do a bit more work to establish a pathway to production success and everything needed for a sustainable pigeon pea industry in the region, so we’ve partnered on these investments to do exactly that.
“DAF’s work will focus on new pigeon pea varieties and genetic research to support the industry, and the Woods Group will investigate the development of a full agronomic package, proving pathway to production success,” Raymond says.
“Our goal is to provide Queensland and northern NSW growers with a new high-value crop option that not only adapts well to our summer conditions but also contributes to sustainable farming practices by reducing the need for nitrogen fertilisers.”
Already identifying an export opportunity, GRDC is also targeting the people who want to eat toor dahl in Australia – specifically Indian diaspora.
“The market that we’re targeting with this crop is for human consumption,” Raymond says.
“We’d like to grow pigeon pea here in Australia to supply to our own market as well.”
Previously there have only been trap crop varieties of pigeon pea, but now there are new varieties tested by Queensland DAF which are better suited to hotter and drier conditions.
In the previous trap crop varieties, pigeon pea is taller than the new varieties and flowers for a longer period of time – attracting moths to the crop and therefore away from the cotton.
Raymond says the new varieties are a lot shorter in stature and do not have strong photosensitivity, so they flower for a shorter length of time.
“This means that farmers will be able to sow the crop and have a greater understanding of when it will flower rather than when the crop hits a predetermined daylength, this makes managing the crop much easier,” she says
Nitrogen fix
As a leguminous crop (part of the pea family), pigeon pea can fix nitrogen from the soil and atmosphere into a form that it can use to grow.
Having this ability, pigeon pea has the potential to reduce the need for nitrogen fertilisers which are costly and can have significant negative impacts on the environment.
With the new varieties being tested and more research being done on its nitrogen fixing capabilities, GRDC and DAF have held several field walks to give growers an opportunity to view the pigeon pea lines first-hand.
Field walks
So far, three field walks have been held in Queensland due to the hotter and drier conditions that pigeon pea can adapt to.
The field walks were held at the Queensland Government Kingaroy Research Facility, the Tosari crop research centre in Pampas and a farm in Warra.
“We had good numbers at all of the field walks with a lot of interest, and lots of people have called me to chat more about pigeon pea,” Raymond says.
“We’re still a couple of years away from having fully commercially viable crops, but there certainly is a lot of interest particularly with the agronomists and the growers to watch it over the next year or two.”
A key interest of agronomists and grower, according to Raymond, is that pigeon pea can provide an alternative to mung beans in regions that struggle to get them to yield due to heat and moisture limitations.
Mung beans need more favourable conditions than pigeon pea, such as moisture when they go to flower, or it will be difficult to achieve good yields.
“The northern grains industry needs a robust summer pulse that is easier to manage and more adaptable than current options, particularly for the drier and hotter regions of south-west Queensland and north-west New South Wales,” Raymond says.
“Our goal is to provide Queensland and northern NSW growers with a new high-value crop option that not only adapts well to our summer conditions but also contributes to sustainable farming practices by reducing the need for nitrogen fertilisers.”
