To assess the impact of seeding time on the production of field pea, lentil and chickpea crops sown in in the low rainfall zone.

When sowing was delayed until rains in May (Wet) overall grain yields in varieties decreased by 20 – 80% in lentil, 40 – 80% in chickpea and 30 – 60% in field pea compared to Early and Dry sowing in April.

Time of sowing: using three strategies

• Dry: Sown 22 April and germinated following the season break approximately in mid-May
• Early: Sown same as dry but irrigated immediately to achieve late April germination
• Wet: Sown into moist soil on 22 May

To achieve an early sowing opportunity, approximately 15 mm of irrigation was applied to the early sown treatments via dripper tube that was laid along each seed furrow. The dry sown treatments remained in dry soil until adequate rainfall was received with 11 mm of rain falling on the 10th of May while a further 5.5 mm of rainfall was received on the 20th of May which was just prior to the wet sowing treatment. However only less than 100 mm of total rainfall was received for the growing season and there was a high incidence of frost with 26 days for August – October where minimum temperatures at canopy height were recorded below 0oC.