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Torrid Growth Pace for Canadian Pulse Crops
VANCOUVER (PRWEB) February 13, 2000 -- Canada's specialty crop industry will maintain a torrid growth pace through the coming decade, a leading expert on international pulse markets told farmers attending the FarmTech 2000 conference in Red Deer, Alberta.
STAT Communications Ltd.'s senior market analyst, Brian Clancey, told the conference the amount of land being planted to peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas is doubling every six or seven years in Canada.
"The past twenty years has seen the amount of farmland committed to pulse crops advance from 0.6% to 3.4% of the Canada's total farmland. More remarkable progress was recorded in Saskatchewan, where land used for pulse production jumped from 0.3% in 1980 to 7.1% last year," Clancey said.
| | - the year 2005, Saskatchewan farmers should be planting 12% of their land in pulses, compared to a cross Canada commitment of 6.3%. By 2012, Saskatchewan farmers could have 25% of their land in pulses and Canada over 11%."
Clancey said pulse area is rising because the crops play an important role in crop rotations. Pulse crops improve soil tilthe and help fertilize soils.
They require less chemical fertilizer because they are able to pull nitrogen from the air and turn it into fertilizer using nodules on their root system. When the plants are harvested, the unused nitrogen is left in the soil. It can be used by crops planted the next year. Wheat and other grains planted on pulse crop stubble have higher yields and protein content, Clancey reminded farmers.
"Reviewing the history of the crop reveals a clear trend. Seeded area for pulses in western Canada is doubling every six to seven years. Average annual seedings of pulses in Canada rose 80% between the first half of the 1980's and the second half. Planted area during the opening five years of the 1990's averaged 88% more than the closing five years of the 80's. The five years just completed saw average annual seeded area rise 86%."
During the coming five year period, Clancey predicted average annual seeded area would rise 63%. "Having said that, I am sure you will find a way to make sure the trend of the previous 20 years will be broken. This means there should be at least an 80% growth rate. More importantly, these gains could persist through the 2005-10 time frame before finally slowing."
- volume of pulses being grown in Canada is huge. Last year's combined output of peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas totalled 3.5 million metric tons. This is nearly double the quantity of pulses grown in the United States each year.
Clancey predicted that by the year 2004, Canadian pulse production could total at least 4.3 million metric tons, while output in the United States is not expected to change much.
STAT Communications Ltd. provides agricultural commodity news and analysis for specialty crop growers, processors, exporters, importers and strategic planners. The original publication was founded in 1988 and has become the world's leading source of news, analysis and outlook projections for pulses and other crops.
- company maintains an extensive website at www.statpub.com, containing market news and analysis for pulses and other agricultural commodities. Subscribers are able to access current export trade data for Canada, the United States and Australia as well as supply and demand forecasts for the coming marketing year.
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Brian Clancey is one of the founding partners of the publication. A former export grain trader, he is the company's senior market analyst.
Visit our internet website:
STAT: www.statpub.com
FarmTech 2000: www.farmtechconference.com
Contact: Brian Clancey, STAT Communications Ltd.
www.statpub.com
604-535-8505
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