With a range of marketing options out there like never before, pulses are proving they are a key component in our cropping rotations that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Pulse Australia’s Trevor Bray spoke at the 2008 Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Adviser Updates and discussed key considerations for marketing and managing pulses this year.
Mr Bray said the industry has entered a new era of pulse production, enabling us to have more marketing options, as we now have new varieties and products highly sought by international markets.
Australian small kabuli chickpeas, green lentils, small red lentils, light coloured faba beans, desi chickpeas with improved seed colour and Kaspa-type field peas with better taste and splitting efficiencies are all in demand.
The over-arching marketing issues of supply versus demand still remain for pulses.
Mr Bray has just returned from a trip through India, Dubai, Syria and Turkey where he met with processors and said the signals were good for pulses.
He said the processors were impressed by PBA’s coordinated approach towards Australia’s pulse breeding efforts.
Specific pulse marketing issues currently include:
*demand exceeding supply
*availability of alternatives when supply is low
*a current absence of carry-over and stored product in the supply chain
*time of sale whether at harvest or after storage or warehousing
*the exchange rate
*continuing demand for pulses from the Indian sub-continent for their domestic consumption
*weed seed restrictions into India which require our pulses to be cleaned before export
*and the size of pulse crops produced by our major exporting competitors (Canada for lentils and field peas, Europe for faba beans).
Growers are now being urged to consider pulses in the context of the whole farming system, as a timely seasonal break and some subsoil moisture in lower rainfall regions should have inspired confidence in pulse crops.
"The future for Australian pulses looks very good, with high prices, strong market demand and preference for Australian pulses in many markets," Mr Bray said.
"The recent overseas trip by PBA succeeded in opening new lines of communication between PBA and the global markets that demand our pulses. Australian pulses are certainly on the map, and here to stay."
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