PROC-9177492: Establishing pigeon pea as a summer pulse crop in the Northern Region

Description: The northern grains industry is seeking a more reliable summer legume option for hotter, drier farming environments where current commercial options are limited. While mungbean and soybean are well-established in some parts of the northern region, their higher water requirements and sensitivity to heat, seasonal stress and limited stored soil moisture can make them less dependable in lower-rainfall areas. This limits growers’ ability to confidently include a summer legume in rotations, reducing opportunities to improve system diversity, nitrogen inputs and overall farming system resilience.

Pigeon pea has been identified as a potential crop to address this gap. Its drought tolerance, resilience in constrained soils and ability to withstand more extreme seasonal conditions make it a strong candidate for environments where mungbean and soybean are not consistently reliable. Early GRDC-supported work has demonstrated that pigeon pea can be grown successfully across initial target environments in southern Queensland, central Queensland and northern New South Wales, and has helped identify promising genetic material and preliminary management considerations.

This investment will engage a delivery partner to design and deliver a coordinated field trial, extension and industry development program that builds on previous GRDC-supported pigeon pea work. The program will validate key agronomic practices across northern farming environments, generate evidence on yield potential, grain quality and farming system fit, and develop practical management guidance for growers and advisers. The delivery partner will also extend findings through targeted engagement with growers, advisers, industry and supply chain stakeholders, and provide the data and samples needed to support market development, future pre-breeding priorities and minor use permit applications.

This investment is intended to be GRDC’s primary mechanism for improving the profitability, industry readiness and adoption of pigeon pea as a viable summer pulse option for the Northern Region.

Outcome: By 30 September 2030, growers in the target region of south-west and central Qld have the confidence to plant and profitably manage pigeon pea across 30,000ha thereby achieving a minimum viable industry.

Outputs.

Output 1. Title: Develop tailored agronomic practices to achieve full yield for pigeonpea grown in Queensland in North NSW. Description: By October and annually thereafter, the investment will establish field experiments ti validate key agronomic practices tailored to pigeonpea production across Queensland and northern NSW. These practices will build on previous GRDC research and incorporate novel management tactics to better define yield potential across different cropping systems and environments. Experiments will be conducted across the GRDC sub-regions of NE NSW, NW NSW, SE QLD, SW QLD and Central QLD. Field trials will evaluate the following: -

- Yield potential and ideal growing traits for each region/climate. -

- Agronomic management options e.g. sowing date, sowing configurations, fertiliser application, irrigation, etc. -

- Producing optimal grain standards for end users. -

- Pest management guidelines. -

- Disease critical thresholds. -

- Legacy implication of implementing pigeonpea into a farming systems e.g. nitrogen legacy.

The service provider will be required to work closely with GRDC’s CP&I team through AKC2507-001SAX to ensure project data is available to support minor use permit applications, particularly for desiccation, as well as insect and weed management issues. The field experiments to develop key agronomic management plans tailored for each sub-region, providing clear guidance for growers to adopt and implement in their cropping systems.

Output 2. Title: Extension and adoption of best management practices. Description: The project will deliver a coordinated extension and adoption pathway annually between 2027 and 2030. The pathway will be developed with early adopter insights and tailored to growers, advisers and supply chain participations across the northern sub-regions. Activities will move beyond field days and publications to maintain grower interest and momentum throughout the project, support peer-to-peer learning, build adviser capability and strengthen broader industry confidence in pigeonpea as a viable summer pulse option. The activities may include: -

- Technical grower management plans tailored to each sub-region and cropping system. -

- Regional demonstration sites and annual field walks at key experiment locations to sow best management practice under commercial conditions. -

- Peer-to-peer learning activities, including grower case studies, paddock-based discussions, decision-support resources and targeted updates that enable advisers to support adoption. -

- Ongoing communication through GRDC GroundCover, digital media, videos, podcasts, social media and seasonal updates. -

- Engagement with supply chain participants, seed suppliers, marketers and potential end users to build confidence in production, grain quality requirements and market pathways. -

- Broader industry engagement with relevant grower groups, agribusiness networks and partner organisations to support coordinated adoption and reduce the risk of fragmented industry development.

Output 3. Title: Gather supporting information for market requirement and pre-breeding priorities. Description: By June 2030, the investment will generate and apply key data and project findings to inform grain industry requirements and priorities future pre-breeding needs for pigeonpea. Building on previous desktop studies and exploratory work, the project will validate Australia’s capacity to produce commercial quantities of pigeonpea for human consumption and feedstock markets. The project will work with industry participants to provide the samples, data and evidence required to inform grain quality standards. MRLs and priority pre-breeding targets for future investments.