Germination issues with Australian lupins

In recent seasons, growers in the northern agricultural region of WA have been experiencing issues with poor germination of lupin crops from retained seed.

Manganese (Mn) deficiency, variety, harvester settings and moisture at harvest have all been identified as contributing factors behind poor establishment, however there is limited information available to growers as to the most important and controllable factors that could be managed differently to improve these germination percentages.

Manganese and Zinc are two important minerals where Australia has lower levels than rest of the countries. For the case of lupins, of the reasons mentioned above, Mn can be the most important affecting the germination process.