Australia will see its largest chickpea crop in nearly a decade, according to winter crop production estimates released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES) on Sept. 3.
The agency forecasted 1.333 million tonnes of chickpea production over a seeded area of 1.900 million acres for the 2024-25 crop year, 70 per cent above the 10-year average. This would be the largest area sown for chickpeas since 2017-18 and the largest crop since 2016-17. In the previous year, 491,000 tonnes were produced from a seeded area of 1.011 million acres. The report said there were expected high yields and high margins in both New South Wales and Queensland this season.
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Lentil production in Australia is also expected to increase this year at 1.685 million tonnes over an area of 2.291 million acres. Despite lower yields compared to the previous year, the projected lentil crop would be more than double the 10-year average. In 2023-24, 1.568 million tonnes of lentils were grown on 1.952 million acres.
Australia’s lupin crop would total 644,000 tonnes in 2024-25 from a seeded area of 1.124 million acres, compared to 566,000 tonnes on 1.090 million acres in 2023-24. For faba beans, 511,000 tonnes would be produced on 640,003 acres, less than the 554,000 tonnes on 652,358 acres in 2023-24. Field pea production was projected at 229,000 tonnes on 462,087 acres for 2024-25, similar to 228,000 tonnes on 474,442 acres in the previous year.
