By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, June 13 (CNS Canada) – Pinto bean counts in central Manitoba are reported on the low side from 45,000 to 50,000 plants per acre, according to Manitoba Agriculture, which attributed the issue to seeding depth and seed quality.
In Australia, the first official estimate of the country’s winter crop highlighted the added attention growers were giving to chickpeas, driven by strong demand from India.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) attributed the increase to higher prices relative to cereal crops.
Read Also
Pulses: Frost damage reported in Victoria
By Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada Winnipeg, January 19 (CNS) – The USDA has raised its production estimates for…
ABARES stated that the states of New South Wales and Queensland would seed record amounts of chickpeas. However, the bureau also cautioned that the rise in acreage could face disease issues as growers stretch rotations.
ABARES projected Australian farmers would seed 1.1 million hectares of chickpeas for 2017-18, which is up from 425,000 hectares in 2014-15.
The agency also increased its outlook for the 2016-17 crop to 1.85 million tonnes.
The agency predicted the country’s overall winter crop would fall by 33 percent from early predictions, to 40.1 million tonnes due to lower yields.
Lentils were also expected to see acreage increases.
Farmer protests in two key farming states in India continue to create uncertainty for pulse markets. Farmers, many struggling with high debt and low crop prices, have taken to protesting in the streets with sometimes violent results. Five farmers were killed in clashes last week when police fired upon protesters in Madhya Pradesh.
As some states moved to write off farmer loans, India’s central bank said that move would undermine markets and private lender confidence.
Many crops are trading below support prices set by the Indian government.
