Northern grain growers sowed about 450,000 hectares of chickpeas and 30,000 hectares of faba beans in 2012, resulting in the fixation of about 35,000 tonnes of nitrogen (N) worth $55 million in fertiliser N equivalence.

Key Points

• The scale of N and economic benefits from growing a legume is determined by grain yield, the amount of legume biomass and the C:N ratio of the legume residue.
• Well-grown pulses will fix 80 to 120kg N/ha, increase soil nitrate levels by 30 to 40kg N/ha and boost the grain yield of the following wheat crop by 0.5 to 1.5t/ha.
• Nitrogen fixation of chickpeas and faba beans is enhanced by good agronomy, soil management and inoculation.
• Faba beans are more efficient at fixing N than chickpeas, principally because of their nitrate tolerance. 

Want to link to this fact sheet?

Use www.grdc.com.au/GRDC-FS-NFixation-Chickpeas to ensure your link remains current and up-to-date!

Region North

• 3.51 mb Nitrogen Fixation Fact sheet (Northern Region) High resolution version Nitrogen fixation and N benefits of chickpeas and faba beans in northern farming systems
• 530.35 kb Nitrogen Fixation Fact sheet (Northern Region) Nitrogen fixation and N benefits of chickpeas and faba beans in northern farming systems