COMPETITION between two countries that produce the same commodity can often be fierce, as they fight for market share and their plant breeders are pushed to get an edge on the opposition.
The rivalry can occasionally turn into outright hostilities, as was the case in the wheat industry when AWB and the US Wheat Associates locked horns over the ethics of the former single desk.
Breeding collaborations exist, but are often at a very general level, looking at the big picture, rather than the specifics.
In this environment, it is remarkable to find an industry where participants on either side of the Pacific Ocean work hand in hand to solve common in-crop issues.
However, this is exactly what has happened in the pulse industry, where recently a visiting delegation of Canadian officials and breeders were welcomed by Pulse Australia.
Pulse Breeding Australia lentil breeding program leader Michael Materne said the issues confronting the industries in both Australia and Canada were so similar that much valuable knowledge could be shared.
Canada’s main pulse crops are peas and lentils, with smaller plantings of chickpeas and beans, with 1.4 million tonnes of lentils produced last season.
One factor of the lentil industries in both countries that is remarkably similar is the dense geographic range of lentil production.
In Australia, the Wimmera in Victoria and the Yorke Peninsula, dominate production, while in Canada, Saskatchewan province is synonymous with that nation’s lentil output, meaning that the industry is generally dealing with similar soil types and rainfall.
Saskatchewan is a low rainfall zone, with an average rainfall of 350mm annually.
Yields are similar to Australia, with anything from a virtual failure to four tonnes to the hectare possible, with an average around 1.4t/ha, slightly better than Australian averages.
Pulse breeder with the University of Saskatchewan Bert Vandenberg said that disease was a key issue in Canada.
Some diseases, such as ascochyta, also occur in Australia, while others, such as anthracnose, are not found here.
“With the diseases that overlap, we can share germplasm, and we do a lot of collaborative work on disease research,” Dr Vandenberg said.
Work is also shared on variety traits, such as crop height and lodging characteristics, as breeders try to create an easier to harvest lentil plant.
Both the Australian and Canadian industries are confident they are on the cusp of a boom era for pulses, and lentils in particular.
“I am very bullish about lentils, they are a fast cooking, high protein food, which take the same time as rice to cook,” said Garth Patterson, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG).
“We have a situation where pulse consumption is increasing both in the developing world, as they can afford more proteins, and in the developed world, where their value as a health food is being appreciated.”
Kofi Agblor, director of research with SPG, said that consumption habits in the third world would not so much alter, in terms of adopting a western diet, as people became more affluent, as increase what they already ate.
“They will eat more of what they have been eating and with more protein and fats, and that is good for pulse producers.”
Dr Materne said lentils were exported to over 100 countries across the world, but said the key market remained the Asian subcontinent.
“This is by far our biggest market, but there is plenty of growth and we believe there is enough room for both Australian and Canadian lentil exporters to participate in the market there.”
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