Lentils Offer Farmers a Positive Option

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

Lentils are a pulse crop with a long history world-wide, and a particularly promising future in Saskatchewan.

A member of the legume family, lentils were first grown in southwest Asia around 7,000 B.C.

Commercial production in Western Canada began in 1970 with just a few acres, but has taken off substantially from there.

Today, Canada is one of the world's leading lentil producing and exporting countries.

Ray McVicar, provincial crop specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, pointed out that the pulse crop has become increasingly popular with producers in this province. In 2006, 580,000 hectares (1.4 million acres) were seeded to lentils across Saskatchewan.

"Lentils have a number of qualities that make them well-suited to production in Saskatchewan," McVicar said. "They are best adapted to cooler temperate zones, and grow well in brown and dark brown soil types."

He adds, "More importantly for producers, lentils can help to improve their economic returns, diversify and lengthen their crop rotations, and reduce their requirement for nitrogen fertilizer."

Lentil production is particularly successful in rotation with cereal grains, since its rooting depth is much shallower than that of crops like wheat. As a result, moisture found in deeper ranges of the soil remains untapped by the lentil roots, leaving it in place for cereal grains to extract in the following year to boost yields and protein content.

McVicar noted that lentils do have some drawbacks, however. Most notably, they are susceptible to certain types of diseases and are a poor competitor with weeds. Producers must therefore consider these factors when planning their crop rotations and crop protection programs in a given year.

"Research is presently going on to develop improved red and green lentil varieties, and to determine the best agronomic practices for lentil production in Saskatchewan," McVicar said. "More information is becoming available all the time, especially with respect to red lentils, as production shifts to better match world demand."

Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food has prepared a document for farmers interested in learning more about the qualities, benefits and production of the pulse crop. Recent updates include information on lentils with the Clearfield trait and procedures for harvesting red lentils.

The document, entitled Lentil in Saskatchewan, is available electronically on the department's website under the Crops category, or in hard copy by calling the Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377.

For further information, contact:

Ray McVicar, Provincial Specialist, Specialized Crops
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Phone: (306) 787-4665
E-mail: rmcvicar@agr.gov.sk.ca