Factors Affecting Lentil Production In Australia: Positive And Negative Drivers

Positive Factors Driving Lentil Production in Australia

Question:

Discuss about the Climate Resilient Cropping on Lentil System.

Lentils have been considered as one of the most useful crop all over the world, which is useful for consumption as well as for the marketing purpose. It is considered as one of the oldest crops grown domestically in Australia. The Australian grown lentils have been broadly divided into two categories such as red lentils and green lentils. Each type of the lentils has different uses and benefits in the markets. However, there are varieties of factors that affect the growth of lentils in Australia such as right variety seeds, soil and other resources required for crop rotation. Lentils require a lot of care while sowing and harvesting. This is because it is a highly sensitive crop and requires right climate, soils, fertilizers and saline level. Various factors influence the growth of lentils in Australia as well. Further, lentils are grown in varieties, which can support every meal in the country (Grdc 2017). The essay discusses about the factors that drives the production of lentils in Australia. Further, it divides the drivers into positive and negative ones that have different effects. Various negative and positive factors that drives lentils production in Australia is analyzed in the paper.

Lentils are regarded as one of the healthiest food items; there are also various types of lentils that are available all over the world. Consumption of lentils in Australia has observed an increasing trend although it is already popular in the Mediterranean region as well as in India. Each of them taste different and also look different form one another. After the Green Revolution the overall crop production of crops had increased almost about two and a half times. Most of the lentils which are grown in Australia are exported and this adds to a staggering $201 million to the Australian grains export industry .With technological advances and improved knowledge about agricultural techniques the production of crops has increase exponentially. Lentils are also considered to be one of the oldest domestic crops in Australia 8 (Agtrans 2013). Depending upon the cotyledon colour the lentils that are grown in Australia can be segregated in two segments red and green. In Australia lentils mostly grow in the semi-arid regions where the pattern of rainfall is mostly during the winter season, Victoria and South Australia has the maximum lentil agricultural facility in terms of soil and weather conditions as stated above. While harvesting it should be kept in mind that the lintels should not be mixed and should be harvested separately.  

1. Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture: sustainability is the smart approach to any idea especially when it comes to agriculture. The diverse and versatile nature of lentils makes it a financially supportive rotational crop option. Lentils have the capability to fix nitrogen to the soil for a following cereal or oilseed crop to use. This approach has gained popularity and has boosted the production of lentils in Australia to a new height (Ghanem et al. 2017).

Healthy food option: People all over the world are becoming more and more health conscious. To keep up with the busy schedule people are opting for more nutritious and healthy options in food items. As lentils have a range of nutritional advantages, it is obvious that the demand of lentils will increase and hence the production of the crops have also subsequently increased in Australia to keep up with the growing demand in both domestic as well as international market. As almost 95% of the lentils produced in Australia are exported the international market of lentil has to be given special attention. Lentils are high in protein and serve as the protein supplement for people who are vegetarian. Nutritionists also advice people to have lentils as per the health requirements. Lentil seeds contain 1-2% fat, 24–32% proteins and minerals (iron, cobalt and iodine) and vitamins (lysine and arginine) (Phillips et al. 2014).

Family preference: Lentils are consumed in large quantities in the Indian subcontinent, south central Asia, Middle East as well as the Mediterranean region. Lentils are one of the staple food items that are consumed by many families. As an old crop the people from areas aforementioned have traditional meals that consist of lentils. During the festivals or any special occasions lentils are consumed in large quantities.  This is one of the main reasons for a stable demand for lentils. For example: in India, lentils are consumed by almost every household on a daily basis.

Cooking convenience: today’s world is fast paced and everyone has a crunch of time. People are always on the lookout for easy and less time consuming food recipes that will also be tasty and healthy at the same time. Lentils check out all the boxes that are mentioned above and hence there is an increase in demand for lentils in the international market. Canned foods are convenient as well but the preservative that are used in canned food or frozen food items can prove harmful to the health of a person. Hence lentils are a good substitute to canned foods. Lentils are not only healthy but also tasty and can be prepared in various ways like fermentation boiling, sprouting/germination, soaking, frying and dry-heat process (Khatun et al. 2016).

2. Healthy food option

Diverse use of lentil production: lentil is a versatile crop and there have been several uses of lentil crops that have been identified apart from consumption of human beings by cooking. Lentils are widely used to produce packaged snacks and it also has medicinal usage as well. The crops can also be used as animal feel; lentil straw is a low cellulose-containing fiber which can be consumed by animals. Furthermore, lentil vegetative parts can be used as green manure. All these factors add up to the increased usage and therefore increased demand in lentil production (Janzen et al. 2014).

Technology: Research and development has extensively increased in the field of Agriculture after the green revolution. As mentioned lentils are extensively uses as rotational crops researchers have developed enhanced crop rotation methods. There is also a trend of using hybrid or better seeds which has positively affected the yield of the crops. Fertilizers are developed to enhance the growth of lentils to combat the demand for the crop (Hobson et al, 2006).. An innovative method of cultivation can be applied to lentil production as the crops are prone to lodging; HydraFlex draper is a grain harvesting technique that uses the contours of the grounds for its advantage. This procedure has the potential to increase the productivity of lentils by up to 15% owing to the fact that there are reduced rate of losses as more crops being saved from being damaged (Wiraguna et al. 2017).

Adaptability of the crop: The lentil crops have the ability to adjust to soils conditions which are less favourable within it is a winter crop and hence it can also adapt to medium to less rainfall. Lentils have been observed to have an enhanced tolerance towards boron toxicity, salinity and also to the amount of sodium that is present in the soil. Several researches concerning Germplasm from around the world is used to give these attributes to the crop as Australian germplasm had a deficit of the features discussed. Selection in order to understand tolerance was conducted and only those plants which had had a high tolerance level were chosen as a source of germplasm (Kant et al. 2016).

Support from the Australian Government: lentils production in Australia was comparatively lower than any other pulses; however there has been a boost in the process. There are mainly two areas in Australia where lentils are grown South Australia and Victoria. Nevertheless the pproduction of lentils crops has prominently increased since the year 2000 from 140,000 tonnes to over 250,000 tonnes. The production in South Australia is constantly rising whereas the production unit in Victoria has faced a decreasing trend in the lentil production. Over 75% of Australia’s lentils were produced in South Australia in the year 2015. Support from the authorities is evident from this significant rise in production. The present breeding goals and aims of Pulse Breeder Australia (PBA) are focused to improve the quality red and green lentil verities production. Increasing the yield of the crop, regional adaptation, disease resistance, toxicity tolerance, consistent colour, consistent size and consistent cooking time are some of the ways that are adopted by the PBA in order to ensure the quality of the lentil production is better. Emphasis has been laid in expanding as well as maintaining a genetic variability so that there is an increase in the genetic gains by the Australian breeding programs (Bourgault et al. 2017).

3. Family preference

Enhanced irrigation facility: Over-irrigation has a negative effect on lentils as is causes lodging. Nevertheless, at the time of dry springs, supplementary irrigation should be done in order to prevent yield losses (Davidson 2016).

Other more profitable crops: farmers are looking for ways and means to earn profit and there are several other pulses that fetch profit in the market as lentils are comparatively cheaper than most food grains that are cultivated. Hence they prefer other crops even in rotation over lentils. This has a negative impact on the production of lentils in Australia. Most of the lentil produced in Australia is exported which indicates that there is still less demand for the crop in Australia compared to other parts of the world(Davidson 2016).

Depletion of natural resources: The change in climatic conditions has been a matter of concern all over the world and agriculture is one sector that has been immensely affected by the climate change. Depletion of soil conditions with increased use of chemicals and fertilizers have largely impacted lentil production. It has also made crops prone to infections and diseases.

Combating disease: there are three significantly popular diseases that have been identified among the lentil crops firstly: Ascochyta blight (Ascochyta lentis) causes dark wound like scratches on the stem of the plant and causes it to wilt or bend. Some of the important management practices that can help fight this disease are variety selection, treatment of the seeds and fungicide sprays. Botrytis grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) is another disease in the lentil crops mostly found in the south Australian region. In this disease the base of the stem and the collar region of young plants are weakened, in these areas a scare like soft spot develops which is covered by mossy grey mould, infected seed is white and chalky in appearance with the help of research and development in the agricultural field cure for this disease has also been identified. Continuous monitoring of the fields is required in order to keep a check on the growth of the disease. The next problem is Phoma, it is a seed-borne infection the outcome of which is in the form of discoloration of the root from where the seed is attached to the plant. The discoloration may extend throughout the root and can cause wound like situation at the bottom of the stem. In these cases, Rotation of the crops can be used as a way to avoid consequent infestations (Delahunty et al 2015).

4. Cooking convenience

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that there is no single factor that could affect the productivity of lentils in Australia. Various factors together play the role of affecting the growth of lentils in Australia and these factors are both positive and negative. Positive factors that affects Sustainable Agriculture, family preference, healthy food options, technology, cooking convenience and others. On the other hand, negative factors are Depletion of natural resources, combating disease, growing other imp crops and others. These are some of the important drivers of assisting the production of lentils in Australia where market for lentils are extensive and crucial for the economy. A positive factor helps in driving up the productivity level of lentils, whereas, negative factors bring down the production level. Thus, it is important the economy increase their positive factors and reduce the negative factors in order to gain more production of lentils.

Reference List:

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