NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the
Advice on Publications Available.Ian Rose
New South Wales Agriculture
Narrabri
Telephone: 02 6799 1500
Facsimile: 02 6799 1503
Email: ianr@mv.pi.csiro.au
Gary Littlejohns
New South Wales Agriculture
Tamworth
Telephone: 02 6763 1100
Facsimile: 02 6763 1222
Since legume crops need to be incorporated into cereal and cotton-based rotations in northern New South Wales, growers in the area have developed an interest in faba bean, chickpeas, field peas and lupins.
Faba beans have been grown in the northern areas of NSW and southern Qld for many years, and are consistently shown to have the ability to fix large quantities of nitrogen. However, grain production has been limited by inconsistent performance and reduced grower confidence.
Problems have included diseases such as rust, chocolate spot and viruses, reducing the harvest index in otherwise well grown crops.
The varieties of faba bean available in Australia have been selected for adaptation to southern Australia conditions.
A northern selection program was established at Narrabri and Tamworth, New South Wales in 1995. The first rust resistant variety, with improved yield, frost tolerance and seed quality is currently scheduled for release in 2000.
There are two broad market options for faba bean as food or feed.
In the short term, most production is destined for the commodity feed market, where faba beans compete with lupins and field peas. The longer term opportunities will be to improve and trade faba beans as human food, as well as to improve its quality as animal feed.
Faba beans are consumed in various overseas markets. Some southern producers are selling into the Middle East canning market.
Unfortunately, with current varieties, the northern beans do not meet the trade specifications for minimum seed size. This will be addressed in the new varieties now being developed.
In the longer term, there are a wide range of human consumption markets already available in various parts of the world, including Asia.
The main requirements are usually seed size, shape and colour.
Unfortunately, several of these opportunities will involve very large seeds with a requirement for producers and grain handlers to obtain specialist machinery.
New markets could be developed by:
For the first time, the faba industry in northern NSW and southern Queensland has some basic research and advisory infrastructure to support producers.
This takes the form of:
As the research effort pays off, the faba bean industry will indeed be an emerging opportunity.
In turn, cereal and cotton growers will reap the rewards that accrue from the incorporation of a reliable grain legume into their rotations.
Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter
Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email:
r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au[
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GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF