LandWISE 2015 Presenter, Christina Finlayson

Peas grown for processing can be a notoriously variable crop both in terms of overall productivity and maturity at harvest. In turn, this can have a significant impact on paid yields and grower profitability.

Many factors are thought to contribute to variability in peas – some of which are beyond grower control and some of which can potentially be influenced through management.

In recent years we’ve worked to consider a few of these ‘manageable’ factors, and specifically, the effect of seed characteristics on early crop vigour and the response of crops to plant growth regulators (PGRs).

The aim of this work has been to identify practices that reduce plant-to-plant variability in the field and maximise paid yield returns for growers and processors.

In our talk we present results from a greenhouse trial looking at the effect of seed characteristics on early crop growth, and how that relates back to the previous pea seed crop. Preliminary results suggested that different-sized pea seed can result in big differences in early plant size and growth.

 

These early differences in productivity are seldom overcome, so getting a consistent ‘start’ is important in minimising future variability issues. However additional variability develops following establishment .

In the field, we have conducted several trials assessing the potential efficacy of a range of PGRs on flowering dynamics and pea yields. Across these trials we’ve seen few clear effects of the PGR types, rates and timings that have been tested.