Chickpeas
There is a good demand for Chickpeas in the UK, around 10,000 tonnes are imported each year, these are used in the canning /ethnic market. The production of Chickpeas in the UK would be a good niche market and should offer good returns for growers - if we can find the right varieties. They offer a very short growing season but do perform best with dry weather, varieties may be adapted to suit our climate, we are working closely with our international breeding contacts.
We trialled chickpea material recently, however they unfortunatley suffered from the late wet weather in both years, rendering the trials to be written off . Maturity does therefore continue to be an issue with this crop in the UK.
Please contact us if you would like to find out more information.
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| Chickpeas in trial near Stamford 2006 |
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Chickpea trials grown during the hot summer of 2006, yields were very good at around 0.6tonnes per Ha. It was a very different story in 2007 and 2008, the wet summer weather did not suit Chickpeas (or any break crop for that matter !),
Spelt Wheat
We continue with the production of Spelt wheat from UK and imported material .
We have been involved in Spelt wheat production on and off since 1996, mainly as the spelt marketing company. The spelt marketing company pioneered the modern day resurgence of the crop in the UK, since then we have built up a portfolio of varieties, targeted end users and are now ready to relaunch Spelt wheat again.
Spelt is unique in that the grain is tightly encased by the glume, it does not therefore readily thrash with a normal combine operation. Specialist equipment is required to hull and clean the grain to the high standards expected by end users across the UK.
Modern spelt varieties are suited to less productive land and offer good returns. The demand for Spelt is increasing either for conventional or organic production. As intolerance to wheat increases in the diet, crops like Spelt will increase in popularity.
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Lentils
We have looked at Lentils in recent years, however yield contraints and late harvet how caused issues, evaluation work continues.
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| Lentils growing Wiltshire |
Phaseolus beans
We have looked the possible production of dark red kidney beans, white beans, peabeans and others, if you have experience of any of these crops or you would like to try a small acreage then please let us know.
