South Perth,
Western Australia
May 12, 2006
Department of
Agriculture and Food, Western Australia development officer
Ian Pritchard says growing field peas is like any other crop, if
you get the basics right at sowing the crop generally looks
after itself.
But he cautions new growers that if they get the basics wrong at
sowing they can play catch-up for weed control and disease
management for the remainder of the season.
“With
this in mind, field peas should be sown to ensure a final
seeding depth of 5cm,” Mr Pritchard said
“Shallow
sowing results in poor crop growth and herbicide damage from
pre-emergent herbicides. This leads to increased blackspot
disease which further inhibits crop growth.”
Mr Pritchard said crop losses as high as 30-50 per cent could
also result when field peas were sown with knife points and
press wheels, and then sprayed with either Diuron or metribuzin
onto the furrows and ridges.
He said post
sowing pre-emergent herbicides onto a level seedbed was
recommended. Leveling the seed-bed before spraying also helped
for harvest.
“Field peas must also be planted in their sowing
window not just when the machinery is passing the paddock,” he
said.
“Field peas are generally sown at the end of the
sowing program. This achieves two vital functions - disease
management and weed control. Sowing windows will be provided in
the following weeks on the Department’s web site
www.agric.wa.gov.au
“As
a general rule, sowing field peas at the end of the sowing
program allows the control of at least one or two weed
germinations prior to sowing and a germination at sowing or soon
after using soil applied herbicides at sowing. Any weeds early
in the crop’s life can be controlled with a post-emergent
herbicide.
“Sowing field peas early allows too many weeds to escape the
weed control options through staggered germinations leading to
reduced yields and increased weed seed banks.”
Mr Pritchard
said as a final rule, field pea seed needed to be inoculated
effectively. Failing to inoculate or killing the inoculum would
not only significantly reduce the yield of the
field pea crop but also potential wheat yields for the following
years. |