Pulse Australia believes there will be potential for chickpeas to top 750,000 tons, which will break the previous record of 480,000 tons in 2009-10.
Pulse Australia’s senior crop manager Gordon Cumming says there has been an increase in chickpea production over the past five years, with more than 1,930 square miles of garbanzo beans this year.
Cumming said the weather, high chickpea prices, and a poor outlook for wheat had combined to provide a crop which could add more than $1 billion to the Australian economy.
“The challenge now is to get the crop through the next few months leading up to harvest with best crop management to minimize risks and maximize yield, quality and, above all, profitability for growers,” Cumming said.
According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences, about 190 square miles of chick pea crops have been grown in Victoria this year in comparison to 772 square miles in Queensland.
