MarketsFarm — Dry conditions and low soil moisture reserves in key Australian growing regions, along with expectations for developing El Nino weather patterns, are expected to cut into the country’s pulse production in 2023-24, despite steady to higher seeding intentions for several crops, according to the latest crop report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).
“A significant downside risk to the 2023–24 winter cropping season is the potential for an El Niño event and positive Indian Ocean Dipole to both eventuate later this year,” ABARES said.
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Seeded lentil and pea seedings in the country are forecast to dip by only 1,000 hectares each on the year, at 645,000 hectares and 197,000 hectares respectively. However, lentil production is forecast to drop by 36 per cent at 905,000 tonnes, while the pea crop is forecast to be down by 26 per cent at 233,000 tonnes.
While pea and lentil production are both expected to fall on the year, farmers looking to mitigate the risk of dryness were likely to plant more drought-resilient crops – like chickpeas, according to the ABARES report.
Chickpea plantings are pegged at 457,000 hectares, which would be up by 15 per cent on the year. However, total production is still only forecast to rise by one per cent to 544,000 tonnes.
