Posted on October, 15, 2021 at 08:01 am
The pea and bean area could rise this season due to the sharp jump in nitrogen fertiliser prices and strong demand for these pulse crops in domestic and export markets.
These legume crops fix their own nitrogen from the atmosphere, so they do not need any nitrogenous fertiliser. This may prove attractive to farmers considering nitrogen prices have risen more than 50% in the past four months.
See also: Guide to growing a successful spring bean break crop
The area of beans in England for harvest 2021 edged up 3.4% to 185,000ha, and peas showed a bigger rise of 18.1% to 60,000ha. Experts in the industry consider a further rise likely, helped by good prices for these pulses.
The vast majority of UK pulses are grown in England, and their rotational benefits and low growing cost may help encourage growers to increase drillings for harvest 2022.
Roger Vickers, chief executive officer of the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO), says if nitrogen fertiliser gets really expensive in the long term, it could make pulses more attractive.
“The pea and bean area could go up a little, and there is clearly room for an increase, as they only account for 4-5% of the total arable area,” he tells Farmers Weekly.
Mr Vickers adds that peas and beans help soil fertility and leave residual nitrogen in the soil for a following crop, so they are crops that can easily fit into a more resilient agricultural system.
With good yields from last summer’s harvest, strong prices and many farmers looking to widen their rotations, pulse crops could well become more attractive to growers.
Peas and beans also have the potential to cut imports of other protein crops such as soya beans, and could fit well into new environmentally focus farming subsidy schemes as they are low-input crops, especially in terms of nitrogen fertiliser.
Although the new Environmental Land Management scheme, which will replace the Basic Payment Scheme, has no specific mention of growing pulses, experts say the scheme’s focus on soil health means pulses may well be favoured.
Source: Farmers Weekly