Winter pulses research immature

Commercialization distant for Sask. producers

Various Western Canadian agricultural news outlets have reported on the promising early results of winter pulse research. Multi-year studies are underway in Alberta and Washington, and some of the results have provoked interest from pulse producers across the prairie provinces.

Winter pea and lentil test crops have 40% higher average yields compared to spring planted crops, according to an American researcher in a Saskatchewan-based agricultural publication. The same story suggested commercialization of winter pulses is just around the corner, possibly as early as 2010.

Will they be commercially available in Saskatchewan any time soon? The short answer is "no." Crop researcher Tom Warkentin says that he and his colleagues at the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan frequently monitor the winter pulse research currently underway in Alberta and Washington.

"But at this point we don't see (winter pulses) in the short term having significant potential," Warkentin said during a phone interview.One of the discouraging factors in winter pulse research is that Southern Alberta and Washington's climates are both milder than winter in Saskatchewan. "The issue of winter hardiness is significant," he said.

As far as commercialization of winter pulses go, the crop's development is still in its infancy. More research will be required to ensure that aspects of weed control, disease resistance and crop quality are properly understood. However, Warkentin doesn't rule out the possibility of more pulse research in the future, but at the moment, it is not a high priority.

"Significant progress by some of our other colleagues might trigger us to reevaluate," Warkentin said. One of those colleagues is Mark Olson, a pulse industry development specialist with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Alberta.

Olson is part of a winter pulse research project that runs from 2008 to 2012. The project consists of four different testing sites, located at Lethbridge, Brooks, Lacombe and near Edmonton. The testing sites include winter and spring types of pea, lentil and fava bean. A final report of the research will be compiled in 2012, but Olson was able to share some observations from the first round of tests.

"We had green growth at the crowns," Olson said in a phone interview, "but the winter fava bean - brought in from France - didn't have the hardiness we required.The Edmonton site was lost completely, and only 10 to 15 per cent survived in Lethbridge. The lentils didn't fair much better."

When asked about how soon it might be before producers can try out winter pulses on their own, Olson puts it frankly: "If I were to put it into perspective, winter pulses are probably where winter wheat was 20 years ago in terms of winter hardiness and winter survivability. It's a long, long ways away from farmers getting enough seed to do quarter sections. Unfortunately, farmers are going to have to be patient and let the researchers do their thing, and let us make the mistakes on some small plots that don't cost somebody income."