LEGUMES which are not traditionally grown in Western Australia were the focus of a trial conducted by Liebe Group and funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
The research was conducted at nine sites across WA - Kalannie, Koorda, Narembeen, Dalwallinu, Tincurrin, Dandaragan, Carnamah, Yuna and Mingenew, aimed to show how some legumes which growers don't normally think about could be a profitable inclusion in the rotation.
Different legumes, such as chickpeas, field peas, lentils and fava beans, which were suited to the different environments at each of the trial sites, were sown and followed up by a cereal crop the next year.
Liebe Group research and development co-ordinator Judy Storer said they were trying to analyse the economic potential of legumes which were not traditionally grown in those particular areas and compare those results back to the traditional standard.
"At a few of the sites, the alternate legumes that aren't commonly grown did perform better than the traditional legumes that are grown in the system," Ms Storer said.
"The results from Carnamah were particularly interesting because the field peas outperformed canola.
"In that area, canola is traditionally a very profitable drop which usually outperforms standard wheat and barley crops, so for these alternate legumes to outperform canola was really impressive."
However not all results were as positive, with the Koorda site running at a loss during the trial.
"It was a lower rainfall zone with a higher weed burden and putting the crop in actually cost money no matter which one it was, even the standard ones," Ms Storer said.
The most common issue across all the trials was weed control, due to the fact that the legumes tested aren't traditionally grown in the system, meaning the agronomic options are quite limited.
Ms Storer said there were not a lot of targeted herbicides which were recommended in the crop types.
"Because of that, it can be quite difficult to consistently control the weeds in the crop, which is a key reason why they're not commonly grown," she said.
"They need to be sown into a clean paddock or the weeds will compete quite strongly with the legumes and will impact yield and grain quality."
The rationale behind undertaking the trial in the first place came down to the liming going on in WA over the past 10 years which has increased the soil pH and decreased the acidity.
"The vast majority of legumes won't grow very well on acidic soil, with the exclusion of lupins, so with the increased pH, we're seeing the opportunity to have the soil types present required to successfully grow these legumes," Ms Storer said.
"There are some previously unconsidered legumes which look like they could have a place in our modern farming systems and we want to encourage growers to consider them and how they could work in their rotations."
