Research tackles key questions in faba bean agronomy
Robyne Bowness’s three-year project aims to bring data and clarity to issues like herbicide residue, desiccation, disease management and crop nutrition.
In 2015, when Alberta farmers grew 100,000 acres’ worth of faba beans, some wondered if this was just the start of even bigger things. By 2016, the market changed, prices dropped and faba bean acreage was cut in half.
To Robyne Bowness, Pulse Research Scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, this might have been a blessing in disguise. Before acres get too carried away, faba beans is a crop we need to know more about.
“The problem with faba beans,” Bowness said, “is that we haven’t done a lot of research on this crop over the past 20 years. There’s some basic research that we still need to do.”
In 2016, with funding from Alberta Pulse Growers, Bowness began a three-year project to address key issues around faba bean production. The work is taking place at locations in four different soil zones: Falher, Lacombe, Barrhead and Lethbridge.
The impact of herbicide residue. It’s long been suspected that faba beans can be damaged by the residue of herbicides used in the same field the previous year on wheat. In 2016, Bowness and her team grew wheat at the four locations, spraying each plot with various rates of herbicides sometimes linked to faba bean damage. Will the plots’ 2017 faba beans be affected? If so, which herbicides and rates might be the cause? Over the next two growing seasons, Bowness will put some hard numbers to this issue.
Fungicides for management of chocolate spot. Bowness is conducting three years’ worth of fungicide trials – of which 2016 was the first. “Research has shown in canola and cereals that fungicides work,” said Bowness. “How much of a problem is chocolate spot and how will these products help? We need to get the research to back us up on this.”
The right product and timing for desiccation. Reglone is considered the gold standard of desiccants, but growers might prefer to use Roundup and/or Heat, which cost less. Bowness will examine the effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness, of four different desiccant combinations.
The role of macro- and micro-nutrients. Anecdotal evidence abounds about the value of various macro-nutrients (such as phosphorous and potassium) and micro-nutrients (such as boron) in faba bean production. What’s lacking is hard data. Through three seasons of trials, Bowness aims to provide it. “Micro-nutrients may be of benefit, but right now it’s too early to say,” said Bowness. “We want to clear up the muddy waters.”
Bowness believes it could be a few years before we see another 100,000-acre faba bean crop in Alberta. Longer-term, she believes the crop’s high protein and market demand will move acres higher. When that times comes, Alberta growers will know far more about the crop than they do today.
“It might take a while to get going, but there’s a lot to like about faba bean,” said Bowness. “That drop in acreage from 2015 to 2016 might turn out to be a good thing after all.”