Pulse Crop Fertility?

[edbaker]

I would be interested in hearing about seeding peas & lentils in continous croping rotations with & without the use of fertilizers. I have heard the experts say we should & shouldn't use fertilizers now I would like to hear from producers who do or don't use fertilizers on their pulse crops.

[edbaker]

I have tried peas without any fertilizer this year but used Tag Team and so far the crop looks very good. I believe that we should definitely not put any Nitrogen on when growing peas or chickpeas because it will reduce the nodulation and possible lower yields. I had one field last year of chickpeas that was about 30 acres and it was fertilized for wheat, aprox 100 lbs of actual N, it is irrigation. This field was seeded to chicpeas because it was so dry on my dryalnd stuubble where they were suppose to go I did not thick they would even germinate. As a result the crop did not to bad but the yield was reduced and the nodulation was less than my other dryland field.

[edbaker]

I know you were looking at producer experience but I will share what producers in this area (St.Paul, AB)do. They don't add extra Nitrogen but they do add phosphorous and potash. Generally 25-30 lbs. actual phosphorous and 25 lbs. actual potash. With that will go maybe 8 to 12 lbs. of nitrogen. They ensure the peas are well inoculated. With this, growers have pulled off 60 to 80 bus/acre pea crops.

[edbaker]

I have grown chickpeas for 4 years now, last year I grew 320 acres of them, and this year I have 640 acres seeded, 160 of the Desi type, and 480 of the Kabuli type. I do not put one pound of any type of fertilizer on these crops at all. I believe that the use of any nitrogen is a waste of money and also defeating one of the purposes for growing a pulse crop, the ability of the plant to produce its own nitrogen requirements throughout the year. All these crops are grown on stubble by the way. I don't add any other fertilizers either because I believe there is adequate P and micros to start the crop off in the spring. I fertilize my other crops in my rotations every year and have seen from soil test results that the P that is required for healthy plants is present and available in the soil already for that one year of production. It makes seeding a breeze also.