Department of Agriculture pulse researcher Mark Seymour said Western Australian grain growers had reported excellent yields in cereals following a weed-free field pea crop.

Mr Seymour said field peas were well suited to the soil, climate and farming systems in Western Australia and were proving to be a valuable rotation option across the grainbelt. 

“The break crop value of any legume crop is a combination of nitrogen balance and disease break.  Field peas maintain nitrogen and organic carbon levels in soil and in some instances may build them up,” Mr Seymour said. 

“They usually outperform chickpea and lentil, but the total effect will depend on a number of factors such as total biomass, amount removed in grain, tillage, out of season rainfall, climate and soil type.

“The fact that field peas are more consistent across soil types, seasons and climates than other grain legume options usually results in more consistent responses in following cereal crops.”

Mr Seymour said if grasses were removed in field peas, the incidence and severity of Take-all, root rots and Cereal Cyst Nematode in following cereal crops was reduced. 

Field peas also have an added benefit of being resistant to two root lesion nematodes - Pratylenchus neglectus and Pratylenchus thornei.  Therefore, a combination of field peas and tolerant or resistant cereal varieties would assist growers in managing nematodes.

“Field peas provide growers with good options for the control of broadleaf weeds including effective pre and post sowing herbicide strategies,” he said. 

“Finding safe effective herbicides for post emergent control in faba bean, vetch and chickpea is an important issue.  However, in field pea crops there are numerous options for controlling problem weeds such as wild radish, turnip and mustard.”

As a ryegrass resistance strategy, field peas are well suited to crop topping and can be made into hay for green or brown manuring to manage problem paddocks. 

Being sown late gives more time for winter weeds to germinate prior to sowing, allowing for effective non-selective control using chemical or cultural techniques.