Temptation of Back to Back Chickpeas
SYDNEY - Feb 25/16 - SNS -- Australian desi chickpea growers need to resist the temptation of planting chickpeas on the same fields used to grow the crop last year, warns the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).
Attractive new crop chickpea prices have left some growers weighing up whether to run the risk of disease issues or adhere to the industry's best practice management recommendation of a one-in-four year rotation.
New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) senior plant pathologist Dr Kevin Moore said a back-to-back chickpea plant was risky, warning that 100% crop losses could occur if conditions favored the development of ascochyta blight, phytophthora root rot and sclerotinia rot.
Disease Loves Same Crop
"Even if there was no sign of these diseases in the 2015 crop it is not safe to plant chickpea on chickpea in 2016. There have been several significant cases in recent years where severe outbreaks of disease occurred in paddocks where it appeared safe to plant," Dr Moore said.
"There are also longer term consequences, particularly for diseases like sclerotinia that have a wide host range.
"The survival structures, sclerotia, remain viable in the soil for many years and could potentially affect many crops including faba bean, canola, lupin, field pea and cotton."
If serious disease outbreaks were to occur, they would harbor costly and long term implications for the entire grains industry according to Dr Moore.
"The first implication is the increased risk of the pathogen becoming more virulent and aggressive," he said.
Disease Factory
"Secondly, it places increased pressure on the resistance genes in new varieties as crops are subject to earlier infection and potentially more disease cycles within a season; and thirdly, we could see an increased risk of the pathogen developing resistance to fungicide.
"The resounding advice is that planting chickpea on chickpea is far too risky and the risks to the grower and the industry far outweigh any potential gains."
Dr Moore said seed treatments and fallow cultivation would not reduce the risks associated with back to back planting and called on growers to follow current best practice recommendations for disease management in chickpea.
These include maintaining a one-in-four year rotation, avoid planting next to last year's chickpea stubble if possible, ensure all planting seed is pickled, and follow the recommended in-crop ascochyta fungicide strategy for the sown variety.
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