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Increasing pulse intake in primary care patients

albertapulse on June 30, 2020

Show, don’t tell, to boost pulses in health-minded diets

For many people, hearing about the health benefits of pulses only helps so much. This project is testing the role of professional support in changing nutritional behaviour.

Once people are told about the role of pulses in a healthy diet, they’ll naturally bring pulses into their diet in a bigger way.

No, not in Dr. Doug Klein’s experience. He’s found that sparking behavioral change can take longer and be more difficult than that.

“As a family physician, I work with patients ranging from kids to older adults,” said Klein, who’s also a Professor at the University of Alberta’s Department of Family Medicine. “In that practice, I see a lot of chronic disease. I like to look at what we can do to prevent some of those issues around heart attack and stroke that are difficult for patients and their families, and add significantly to health care costs.”

Combining his roles as family doctor and researcher, Klein is leading a study – funded by Alberta Pulse Growers, Alberta Health Services and others – to test how best to encourage adoption of a healthier diet and more regular exercise.

Prevention before treatment

When Klein treats patients with signs of metabolic disease, associated with heart disease and stroke, he advises them to eat better and exercise more. His clinical experience suggests that such advice, on its own, is unlikely to be acted upon.

“I’ve talked about this with my patients for my whole career,” Klein said. “Simply telling people, go eat more pulses, does not work. I believe you actually have to equip people with tools and resources around nutrition and physical activity. That’s the idea behind this study.”

Klein is now selecting people for the intervention and control groups of this study. The intervention group will receive counselling and encouragement to set a personal plan around diet (including pulses) and exercise. Supporting this plan are resources such as recipes, reflecting Klein’s view that lack of knowledge of how to prepare pulses is a barrier to their use. The control group will not receive this guidance and these resources.

To the extent that health status differs between the two groups, Klein may be able to show that guidance-plus-resources can be effective in creating change. Initial results should be available by the end of 2020.

The output of this study will include both hard data and patients’ stories. Using both, Klein would like to show that with the right approach, health outcomes can be enhanced through improved diet and exercise. His own patients, and Albertans more generally, have much to gain.

“It sounds fairly easy, but habits are hard to change,” Klein said. “The more we support the population in eating better, and moving in a way that our bodies were designed to do, the less chronic disease is going to emerge. With this project, I’m really excited that we have an opportunity to support people to make good choices for their health.”

 

Processing strategies for commercially-ready pulse ingredients

albertapulse on June 30, 2020

Four high-potential pulse crops are the focus of this five-year effort, with pulse flours getting the most detailed examination.

As new pulse processing capacity moves closer, attention is focused on the construction of these new facilities and the day when the new processors first buy pulse crops from prairie growers.

As Dr. Mike Nickerson observes the pace of development, he’s looking beyond the day when these highly anticipated facilities open for business.

“The companies building infrastructure here on the Prairies, a lot of them are trying to get their plant up and running and get their first ingredient made,” said Nickerson, Professor and Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Chair at the University of Saskatchewan. “Pretty soon after, they’ll start looking to, how can I add more value to my ingredients? They’ll be capitalizing on some of the work we’re doing right now.”

Nickerson is one-third of the way through a five-year project, funded by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership AgriScience Program and prairie pulse growers, to find innovative ways to process yellow peas, red lentils, Kabuli chickpeas and navy beans. These processed pulses – most prominently, pulse flours – will be essential ingredients in a wide variety of new food products.

Particle size, new technology in pulse milling

Compared to flours milled from cereal grain, processing pulses into flour is newer territory, with much basic research work still to be done. Nickerson explained that between 80% and 90% of this project is concerned with pulse flour. Baked goods, beverages and binding agents are a few areas to watch.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work at CIGI, looking at how milling particle size and new milling technology can be used to modify the properties of the flour,” Nickerson said. “So far, we’re seeing big changes in the functionality of the flour based on particle size.”

Germination and infrared heating before milling were the focus of the project’s first phase. Roasting, fermentation and wet extraction are priorities for 2020. Portions of this work will be carried out by University of Saskatchewan students under Nickerson’s direction, helping to train the pulse scientists and technicians of tomorrow.

While this work is innovative in terms of pulses, advanced processing techniques are long-established for soybeans. Nickerson wants to close the gap between now and 2023.

“That’s where we want to get with the pulse proteins, to develop specialty fractions of the kind they have for soy,” he said.  “Whether it’s modifying the wet extraction process, new dry extraction techniques or milling to certain particle sizes, we’re using fermentation and enzymes to modify those ingredients to get almost an ingredient line extension for these pulse protein ingredients.”

As new pulse processors prepare to open, the techniques they’ll use first will ultimately be replaced by newer methods that capture more value from pulses. Nickerson is finding those methods today.

“The research that we’re doing in the next five years,” he said, “is about making pulse ingredients that are more functional and perform better.”

 

 

Sprouting project seeks new applications for faba bean

albertapulse on June 30, 2020

Sprouted faba bean could be a healthy ingredient in a variety of food products. This project is working on germination technique, nutrition, taste and product development.

There’s a solid case to be made for growing faba beans. According to APG estimates in January 2020, when the crop yields 64 bu./ac. and the price is $7.50/bu./ac., a profit of $250 per acre could be expected once costs of $237 per acre are paid.

With fundamentals like these, alongside known agronomic benefits, faba beans now need a greater number and variety of marketing options to become more attractive to growers.

Senior Food Scientist Dr. Jay Han, and his team at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s Food Processing Development Centre in Leduc, are nearing completion on a three-year project on sprouted faba bean. This work, which is being supported by APG, seeks to answer four big questions around both low-tannin and high-tannin faba beans.

How should the process work? “The obvious comparison is to malting barley, but cereal grains and pulses act quite differently,” said Han, “and there hasn’t been as much work done on sprouting of pulses.”

As part of this project, he’s tested several approaches to faba bean sprouting, involving steeping in water, sterilizing and finally drying. One finding is that faba bean can be optimally sprouted in as little as 48 to 72 hours – less than half of the five to seven days used to germinate barley in a malt house.

What’s the nutritional profile? Faba beans are highly nutritious, delivering high protein, folate, manganese and dietary fiber. How are its sprouts different? Han’s hypothesis is that some of faba beans’ nutritional benefits could be lessened by sprouting. Colleague Dr. James House and his team at the University of Manitoba is in the final stages of investigating issues such as the quality and digestibility of protein.

What do they taste like? This question is being answered from two perspectives. Dr. Jonathan Curtis and his team at the University of Alberta is performing a chemical analysis of the flavour of faba bean sprouts. “We’re also doing human sensory work here,” Han said. “The flavour is a big issue. Faba bean is a bit like dry peas in that they have a relatively milder flavour. It’s still a pulse, however, and some people in North America are not familiar with this flavour.”

What can be made with them? When you buy bean sprouts to put on a salad, the sprouts are typically germinated from mung bean or soybean. It could be a while before faba bean sprouts are used in this way. They’re more likely to be used as an ingredient.

Investigating these possibilities is the kind of work for which the Food Processing Development Centre is internationally recognized. “We have been doing more of the scientific or analytical work until now,” Han said. “We started on product development last fall, and we have four or five possible candidates, such as pasta and extruded snack products, and with that the consumer sensory work. We’ve done a lot with sprouting faba bean, and we still have some work to do.”

 

 

Value added applications of pulse proteins and fibre

albertapulse on June 30, 2020

Substituting pulse ingredients for animal-based ingredients can achieve similar performance in some food applications, but will greatly improve nutrition.

From a bigger presence in grocery stores, to rising profile in restaurants, 2019 felt like the year that plant-based protein finally cracked public awareness. Which products and brands will make the most impact? That’s tough to say, but as Dr. Lingyun Chen sees it, there’s little doubt that more innovative products are on the way.

“Plant protein is a hot topic at technical and scientific conferences around the world,” said Chen, Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Alberta. “Several key trends are driving research: meat analogs, dairy replacements and using plant protein ingredients in drink products.”

With funding support from APG and others, Chen and her team are hot on the trail of new ideas that can increase demand for pulses and pulse ingredients, ultimately building new revenue opportunities for growers. Two years ago, for example, she wrapped up development of a faba bean-based concentrate ranging from 60% protein (with a dry process) to 85% protein (with a wet process). That’s a breakthrough with many potential food processing applications.

In 2019, Chen’s focus was mainly on three plant protein-related areas, with all showing good progress.

Stronger, more nutritious gels. The ability of ingredients to form a gel is critical for the food processing industry. Egg white is a traditional gelling agent. Soy also has good gelling qualities, but Chen believes that industry would be open to a gel that is not animal-based and not soy. Peas look promising.

“We’ve found that pea protein is comparable to egg white to form good gels,” Chen said. “Plant proteins normally need a higher temperature than egg white to form gels. We’ve been looking at lowering the gelation temperature and it’s been going very well. Pea protein modified by a physical approach can form a gel with good mechanical strength, that’s stronger than soy and might even be comparable to egg whites.”

Dairy replacements. Products like coffee cream and ice cream are staples in the supermarket. For reasons of dairy sensitivity or personal choice, some consumers would prefer the same product experience without consuming dairy. Chen believes she can help them.

“We have a graduate student who’s been working on identifying a new form of lentil protein aggregate,” she said. “The goal is to make a stable emulsion with the right texture and feeling in the mouth. This could replace dairy in products such as ice cream and salad dressing and could even replace eggs in mayonnaise.”

A protein kick for oat-based drinks. These products are getting well-established among consumers who want a nutritional edge. Even so, oat-based drinks could be even healthier if pulse protein was part of the recipe. Chen is currently working to optimize such a formulation and notes that a pulse/oats tandem could deliver nutritional synergies that are superior to consuming each individually.

Looking ahead to 2020, Chen sees consumers poised to accept more plant-based protein in their diets. Her aim is to make sure that prairie-grown pulses are a big part of this movement.

“There’s a lot of diversity in what’s possible with pulses,” Chen said. “To mimic animal-based ingredients with pulse ingredients results in less fat, higher protein and high dietary fibre. These are pulse-based products that can help change the Canadian diet for the better.”

 

Development of novel line of gluten-free ready meal products from Alberta based pulses

albertapulse on June 30, 2020

NAIT’s new Centre for Culinary Innovation sees plenty of opportunity to research and develop new uses for whole pulses and pulse ingredients.

How can you put into words the enjoyment associated with a meal of wheat-based pasta? The bite, the texture and the fill-you-up goodness is known to most of us.

For someone on a gluten-free diet, however, wheat-based pasta is off limits. As for most of the gluten-free pasta alternatives now available, Dana Gibson doesn’t think much of them.

“I’ve tried them, there’s not great selection and not great quality,” said Gibson, Director of Business Development for the new Centre for Culinary Innovation at NAIT in Edmonton. “The ingredients they’re using in order to be gluten-free just don’t have that bite that you get with pasta. It’s just not the same.”

Built at a capital cost of $2.5 million, the Centre’s Research Kitchen has 12 product development stations that are dedicated to applied research and chef-driven product development.

As Gibson explains, the Centre is looking to the future of what people want to eat, and pulses will feature in a major way.

“With the projects we are currently running, 70% of them relate to plant-based ingredients,” Gibson said, “and of those I’d say over half are pulse-based. There’s lots of interest in yellow and green field peas, faba beans, kidney beans and a little bit in mung beans.”

Pasta and ready-made meals close to testing

Gibson’s NAIT colleague Paolo Mussone, Bio/Nanotechnology Research Chair, has already characterized the surface structure of the pulse-based pasta, developed by Chef Maynard Kolskog. He’s now in the process of comparing the pulse-based pasta with traditional wheat-based pasta to see how the different ingredients affect the structure of pasta. This pulse pasta is gluten-free and should be well-suited for a ready-meal product, such as lasagna, that food retailers are scrambling to bring to time-crunched consumers. Sensory testing starts soon.

From there, Gibson sees many possibilities for pulses, which combine high protein, gluten-free status and also offer the kind of ‘mouthfeel’ many gluten-free products currently lack.

“Our Certified Research Chef, Maynard Kolskog, did his first research project in collaboration with Alberta Pulse Growers to develop some sous-vide ready meals with pulses,” Gibson said. “It was very successful, and I think it sparked in him a passion for pulses and the utilization of  Alberta-grown products.”

The Centre for Culinary Innovation can take on product development research and can make its facilities available to food companies that want to test new ideas. Food innovation, after all, needn’t be restricted to large multinationals. The Centre can help smaller Alberta-based companies compete.

All this research and development should boost the fortunes of food companies that embrace pulses, and of course the growers who supply them.

“Freson Bros. is one retailer who’s very interested in developing products that use Alberta- grown ingredients and this type of product would fit right in and would get Albertans eating more pulses,” Gibson said. “Pulses are ideally positioned as a great source of protein that’s gluten-free, hearty in taste and very functional to work with.”

 

Land stewardship yields slow, steady benefits

albertapulse on June 29, 2020

Since 1992, this ongoing study has tracked the evolution of southern Alberta cropping practices and shown the benefits of a diverse crop rotation.

You’re looking to buy or rent some land, and have your eye on two parcels. In one case, the cropping, tillage and management history is a bit vague. In the other, the landowner has detailed records that show a diverse crop rotation and robust soil health. Which land would you pay more for?

The research land managed by Dr. Eric Bremer isn’t for sale, but it’s an example of how good stewardship accumulates over time to build heathy soil and a healthy living in farming. Located near Bow Island, the site’s diverse crop rotations were established in 1992 and maintained for 24 years by Dr. Ross McKenzie and his team at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Since 2015, the long-term impact of these rotations has been evaluated under uniform cropping through a research grant provided by Alberta Pulse Growers.

The site’s mission is to explore the long-term impact on soil health and productivity of a wide variety of crop rotations and agronomy choices. As Bremer explains, this land embodies a history of recent decades’ farming practices in the region.

“When the location started, a lot of crop producers in that area were transitioning out of fallow-wheat type of rotations and out of tillage, maybe going into chemfallow,” said Bremer. “It was minimum-till for the first six years then zero-till after that, just like the farmers were doing in that area. Over time, it added more pulses, oilseeds and grasses.”

The steady pulse of good stewardship

The addition of pulses into the rotation had the expected impact on soil health and productivity, compared to a nutritionally bland wheat-fallow tandem. In fact, Bremer has found that the impact of pulses keeps on showing up.

“Even three years later, we’re still seeing differences with the pulses compared to continuous wheat,” he said. “It’s not night and day, but barley yields in Year 3 were still seven bushels per acre higher when previous rotations included pulses than following continuous wheat.”

Even so, farmland that’s seen less-than-ideal crop rotations and tillage practices is by no means a write-off. Diversifying crop mix and supplementing nutrients as needed can go a long way to restoring soil health. That’s another finding of this project.

Bremer’s most recent planting across the site was winter wheat in Fall 2019. Looking ahead to the site’s 29th spring, he’ll keep working to build a case for good rotational stewardship as a source of soil health and slow, steady wealth creation.

“If you’re taking over land through purchase or rental, you’ll be thinking about its history and the implications of that for how you should be farming,” Bremer said. “Most realize that, but it’s certainly something to keep in mind. If you’re following someone who’s put in a lot of pulse crops, you can expect to have some kind of nitrogen benefit. If you’re renting out your land or selling, whether or not you can ask for a higher price, you can use that as a selling point.”

 

 

 

Improved management of stored pulse crops

albertapulse on June 29, 2020

Harvest 2019 highlighted the need for storage guidelines geared to pulses. At that time, APG and PAMI were wrapping up research on exactly that topic. Here are key findings.

For many pulse growers, the harvest of 2019 was one of the most prolonged and challenging in memory. Making matters worse, getting the crop off the field wasn’t the end of the struggle. Next came hard decisions on how best to store and manage crops until they could be safely delivered.

“One of the biggest risks to pulse production is storing crop that comes off tough,” said Charley Sprenger, Project Leader with PAMI, the applied R&D and testing organization based in Humboldt, Sask. “If it’s not stored in a safe condition, the losses can be significant.”

She cites the example of a bin holding 4,000 bushels of lentils. With each move in temperature and humidity – both inside and outside the bin – $40,000 in potential economic value is at risk if the whole bin were to spoil.

Most research on management of stored crops has focused on cereals and canola. Two years ago, APG and other pulse associations believed that pulse-specific storage guidelines were urgently needed. The group engaged PAMI to give the issue a thorough examination.

Many scenarios explored

PAMI’s facility is equipped to test a wide variety of storage and drying scenarios (including aerated temperature and moisture control, with continuous and real-time monitoring) in 15-bushel bins. “We also have solid research,” Sprenger said, “that shows that our 15-bushel set-up reflects what would occur in full-scale storage.”

Under this study, PAMI explored many different scenarios of crop moisture, temperature and airflow rate for yellow peas and green lentils over two years. As Sprenger explained, this work confirmed the main issues that should be top of mind for producers. Here are four takeaways.

Ambient conditions are key. “Outside air temperature and humidity – the air you draw from outside to blow through your grain – has the greatest impact on moisture and temperature conditions inside your bin,” said Sprenger. “It’s not enough to run your fans for 24 hours and expect the same results every time.”

No impact on quality from airflow rate. One question going in was whether increasing airflow rates could affect germination and vigour. As confirmed by third-party vigour and germination tests, no such quality loss was found for peas and lentils.

Best airflow rate for peas and lentils. “We confirmed our recommendation of 1 cfm (cubic foot per minute) per bushel airflow rate for drying with favourable ambient conditions,” Sprenger said. “With the larger kernel size of peas and lentils, you’re able to achieve that airflow rate with a standard fan size. If you just want to cool, it’s 0.1 to 0.5 cfm per bushel.”

Monitoring technology helps. A new generation of tools is making it easier to monitor temperature and humidity inside grain bins. Weighing capital dollars invested versus crop revenue protected, these can be a sound investment. “Not just for pulses but for grain storage in general, everything starts with understanding the condition of what’s in your bins,” Sprenger said. “You are arming yourself with the information you need to effectively manage your bins.”

A full report on this project, Improved Management for Stored Pulses, is available at https://albertapulse.com/research/improved-management-of-stored-pulses/

Economic value of diversified cropping systems

albertapulse on June 29, 2020

This two-year study aims to create a decision-making tool showing the impact of planned crop rotations on disease pressure, yields and economic returns.

Crop rotations are one area where theory and practice tend to collide. High-minded theory calls for four or five crops in rotation and avoiding planting the same crop in succession. Practical reality suggests there are bills to be paid and crops that provide a higher return this year are more likely to be chosen.

Still, it’s a calculation that might be less straightforward than it first appears. That’s because shorter rotations tend to favour disease development, leading to potentially lower yields and higher input costs in the future. Dr. Elwin Smith considers canola a prime example.

“If canola has generated the best margin for growers, that will encourage shorter rotations and more canola,” said Smith, an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Lethbridge. “But there can be foreseeable unintended consequences: higher returns today, but possibly lower yields in the future, due to the buildup of diseases like blackleg and clubroot. Root diseases and Aphanomyces in peas is another example.”

What if producers could evaluate the impact of rotational decisions before they plant today and years into the future? That’s exactly what Smith and fellow University of Lethbridge Economist Dr. Danny Le Roy have in mind.

In 2019, they started a two-year project – funded by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster – to nail down the economic value of more diverse crop rotations.

There’s an app planned for that

In the first phase of this project, Le Roy and Smith will gather existing data on this question and seek the input of plant pathologists and agronomists.

“In one crop insurance study put together by AFSC, it was found that when peas were grown two years running in the same field, yield dropped by 15% on average in the second year,” Le Roy said. “Peas followed by spring wheat would have produced a better economic result. That’s the kind of insight we’re after.”

In some areas, such as the Parkland region, canola can be over-represented in crop rotations. Some Manitoba farmers are stuck in a corn/soybeans/canola rut. Le Roy and Smith have a network of colleagues in place to provide input specific to these and other regions.

“By the end of the project, we hope to develop an app – something simple that can highlight the impact of a given rotation over time and evaluate alternatives,” Le Roy said. “The idea would be similar to a ‘mortgage wizard’ you can use to quickly sort through your mortgage options.”

Everyone knows a diverse crop rotation is good for the soil, helps manage disease pressure and supports the long-term sustainability of the operation. In real life, however, economic returns vary significantly between crops and everyone has bills to pay. Le Roy and Smith suspect their work might ultimately show that current profitability and long-term sustainability are on the same team.

“A lot of producers know this inherently,” Smith said. “Our contribution is to quantify whether gains expected from a more diverse crop rotation actually happen.”

 

Soil microbes offer new road to pulse productivity

albertapulse on June 29, 2020

One microbe, Mycorrhiza, could enhance phosphorous delivery from the soil to pulse crops. A two-year project will build knowledge of how this works and can be enhanced.

How do pulse growers produce healthy, high-yielding crops? One broad set of tactics could be called protect the plant. Growers use chemical, genetic and agronomic means to keep insects, disease and weeds from harming the potential of the crop.

Today, a new direction to meet the potential of pulse crops is opening – one you might call strengthen the soil – and Dr. Monika Gorzelak is helping to lead the way.

“I’m a soil microbe ecologist,” said Gorzelak, Lethbridge-based Soil Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “I’m interested in how different soil organisms interact with each other to ultimately create benefits for plants that we are interested in.”

These potential benefits are many and significant. For example, soil organisms could boost the soil’s ability to sequester carbon. Of immediate interest to pulse growers is the likelihood that soil organisms could contribute to crop nutrition.

Gorzelak points to one soil microbe, Mycorrhiza, for its potential to nourish the crop below the soil rather than growers just applying fertilizer to the surface. This could create economic as well as environmental benefits.

“Mycorrhizas are well-documented to pick up phosphorous,” she said. “It’s a complex system, but what I want to understand is its effect on soil health and how well that soil can support a crop.”

How Mycorrhizas help field peas

In the spring of 2020, Gorzelak began a two-year study to lay the groundwork for understanding how Mycorrhizas function, how they strengthen the soil and how this can aid the production of field peas. This work will be supported by Alberta Pulse Growers and will be managed under the Plot to Field banner.

“Mycorrhiza is a symbiotic soil fungus that is wholly dependent on the plant for its life cycle,” Gorzelak said. “They’re not able to grow and proliferate outside the plant root. I’m focusing on field peas because they’re nitrogen-fixing and are therefore better hosts for Mycorrhizas than, for example, wheat.”

Under this project, Gorzelak will explore how Mycorrhizas interact with field peas in the different growing regions within Alberta, in crops that have and have not received a phosphorous application. She’ll begin by seeking an initial genetic fingerprint of Mycorrhizas. Further down the road, a full DNA sequence could be mapped.

With this baseline of knowledge in place, soil scientists could then finetune microbes such as Mycorrhiza to increase the potential benefit.

Many ways that growers and science help pulse crops occur above the soil surface. Gorzelak believes that the soil itself holds vast potential and is excited to get started.

“My personal interest is soil health,” she said. “I’m after long-term sustainability of soil, which includes building soil organic matter, focusing on and improving the biology of the soil. The result is that it’s going to be great for crops as well.”

 

Going deeper on pea leaf weevil management

albertapulse on June 29, 2020

Three years of fieldwork in field peas and faba beans will allow growers to sharpen their approach to this significant insect pest.

Pea leaf weevil is believed to cause two kinds of damage: first, this year; then, next year.

The first year’s damage is inflicted on its host crops of field pea and faba bean. Since pea leaf weevil feeds on root nodules that are essential to nitrogen fixation, immediate crop yields can suffer. With less nitrogen being fixed the first year, the following year’s crop (wheat, for example) could be under-nourished or would require added nitrogen.

In recent years, Dr. Hector Carcamo and his colleagues have added vital detail to this picture. In 2016-18, he led a study that examined pea leaf weevil management and produced important conclusions in several key areas.

Weevils prefer faba beans to peas. “One question we had going in was, does pea leaf weevil do more or less damage in faba beans compared to peas,” said Carcamo, Lethbridge-based Research Scientist, Insect Pest Management with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “After all, faba beans have more nodules than field peas and of all the pulse crops, they are the best at fixing nitrogen. Our work found that pea leaf weevils fed more on faba beans.”

Faba bean threshold lower than peas. Having 15% of seedlings with damage on the clam leaf at the 2- to 3-node stage can result in economic yield losses. This threshold is lower than for peas, which is 30%. This shows the importance of managing the pest through seed treatment rather than foliar application, which the project found did not provide worthwhile protection.

“We found that the plots treated with a seed insecticide showed less damage compared to the plots treated with a foliar insecticide,” said team member Asha Wijerathna, PhD student at the University of Alberta.

Pea leaf weevil defense starts in the summer. Scouting the previous growing season can give growers an indication of how strong the following year’s weevil activity is likely to be.

“What is the population of pea leaf weevils at the end of the summer?” Carcamo said. “What are the conditions that might affect the mortality of the pea leaf weevil during the winter? Based on that, before they buy seed, growers need to decide whether or not to get the seed treated.”

Carcamo adds that seeding early could invite greater weevil damage; later-seeded crops tend to see less damage.

Nitrogen loss isn’t significant. Based on analysis of soil nitrogen and straw nitrogen of crops planted the next year, Carcamo now believes nitrogen loss caused by damaged nodules the previous year doesn’t significantly hurt yields.

Looking forward, he wants to understand how beneficial insects and spiders could play a role in managing pea leaf weevil. Carcamo’s final caution is that the environmental impact of chemical control should be carefully balanced with its yield protection benefits.

“The pesticides are not specific to the pea leaf weevil,” he said. “When you use an insecticide – either a seed treatment or a foliar – you can expect some negative effects on the beneficial insects.”