Chickpea – the Klondike of the Ukrainian agro market

Chickpea – the Klondike of the Ukrainian agro market

The market of niche crops is developing rapidly throughout the world. Depending on demand, in different years the areas for sowing of coriander, mustard, lupine, safflower, vetch and other highly profitable crops increase.

The last three years, there are a positive trend towards an increase in cultivated areas for chickpea, or, as it is also called, Turkish peas. Today, world crops occupy up to 13 million hectares. Most of all chickpeas are grown in India - about 70% of all areas, another 5-10% in Australia, up to 5% in Pakistan and about 4% in Turkey.

There are a number of reasons for the popularization of chickpea:

• Stable selling market: planned growth in the population in consumer countries leads to an increase in the demand for vegetable protein. As it is known, chickpea contains 34% of protein, which is close to egg white. The key markets are the EU countries, China, Turkey, as well as Bangladesh.

• High drought and heat resistance: chickpea is the most drought-resistant and heat-resistant crop among legumes. It does not require large water resources for its cultivation, which is extremely important taking into account the unstable precipitation of recent years.

• Savings on fertilizers: growing of legume crops favorably affects the soil, saturates it with nitrogen, which in the future can reduce the use of mineral fertilizers.

• High marginality of crop.

According to information from the "Community of Pulse Producers and Customers of Ukraine" in 2018, chickpea were sown on 36,000 hectares. Mostly chickpeas are grown in Odessa, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi and Vinnytsia Oblast.

The farmerscan.com team talked with experts in the field of chickpea cultivation, and is ready to share relevant information.

About the forecasted bulk yield of chickpeas in Ukraine, Anna Kolba, deputy director of the OO "Community of Pulse Producers and Customers of Ukraine", said: "Despite the increased acreage in 2018, compared to previous periods, given the extremely unfavorable weather conditions, we can say about the expectation of yield at 48 -50 thousand tons."

About the principles of price assessment for chickpea, the representative of MAER company, Dmytro Chebanenko, said: "The price depends on the quality of the goods. The main criterion for chickpea is the grain size. The chickpea of caliber 8+ is appreciated (note: grain diameter is 8 mm). Also an important role has the humidity, the percentage of halves. If the goods are good, you will be awarded a contract immediately after harvesting at a price of $ 1,100 per ton. This year we reached the price of 42 000 UAH/t. The minimum price is 18 000 UAH/t."

Zynovii Tymofiiv, representative of the OFH "Phenix", shared his achievements in the cultivation of chickpea. The farm is located in the north of the Kherson Oblast, they sowed chickpea the first time at the increase plot. "The crop is sufficient, requires attention. Chickpea requires herbicides, and science currently does not have such preparations. They sowed the breed "Jordan". We planned to get 15-18 centners per hectare in the first year, but the last weather conditions did not bring us any joy and benefit, because we collected 7.5 centners per hectare. There are many losses on the field, as chickpeas were lodged with rain, and it lied down. But next year we will sow again. We will buy the American breed "Siera", the area has already been diverted", said Zinovii Timofiiv.

The chief agronomist of the Pokrovske farm in the Kirovohrad Oblast, Nesterets Volodymyr explained the reasons why the farm decided to sow chickpeas: "In 2018, we sowed chickpeas for the first time. A small area of 125 hectares. The crop is promising in terms of sales of marketable products. In addition, the legume crop leaves organic nitrogen. The harvesting of chickpeas in our zone takes place between mid-to-late August, when the early grains are already harvested, and the main technical crops are not yet ripe, a window appears."

"The main problem in chickpea sowing, in my opinion, is ragweed. Perhaps in places sunflower. Pinnate chickpea leaves do not obscure the soil, the soil is visible. The problem is that the weed appears. It is worth the weed only to rise, it sees the sun and vegetates", the chief agronomist shares his observations.

More information you can see in the video. In his interview, Nesterets Volodymyr shares his personal experience of chickpea cultivating, explains in detail the peculiarities of this crop and the problems that he faced directly in the farm.