Australia: Chickpeas headlining big pulse year but frost, and dry hurts in the south

Australian pulse production is expected to reach historically high levels this season with the massive northern chickpea crop set to outweigh losses in southern lentil crops due to frost and dry conditions. Chickpeas and lentils dominate the Aussie pulse sector, with smaller plants of lupins, particularly popular in Western Australia, faba beans and field peas. RaboResearch general manager Australia and New Zealand Stefan Vogel said the 2024/25 Australian pulse harvest - including chickpeas, lentils, faba and mung beans, lupins and field peas - is expected to exceed last year's volumes. He said the chickpea crop had proceeded well in the north. The most recent Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) report was predicting a 1.3 million tonne chickpea crop, but this update came out in early September and virtually all private forecasters now expect a larger crop. However, on the flip side, the lentil crop, which was flagged at 1.7m tonnes, ...