Pod sealants offer pea growers excellent return on investment – Farmers Guide – Sam Hugill
Peas and beans offer a good alternative protein source to soya in feed rations ...
But they can be a management-heavy crop that needs particular attention on the run-up to harvest, where yield and quality losses can be significant.
With high crop prices and challenging weather expected on the run-up to harvest this season, it is the pod sealants that can offer a significant return on investment of 3.5:1 says Hutchinsons agronomist Sam Hugill. An application of ZipPod is his product of choice, and with crop prices for field peas currently at £230/t, will feature in his agronomy programmes.
Mr Hugill provides agronomic advice on more than 600ha of combinable field peas and beans across North Yorkshire, produced for the animal feed and human consumption markets. “For peas grown for human consumption, appearance is critical, so we are looking to minimise the risk of pea bleaching,” he says.
“This can be achieved by applying an appropriately timed quality pod sealant. My product of choice is ZipPod, which can reduce bleaching by as much as 15 per cent as well as reduce pod splitting by 20 per cent.
“Application timing of the pod sealant is critical so we look to go in eight weeks before harvest,” he says. “Some growers prefer to go in 10 weeks before harvest and others look to go in four weeks prior to harvest, along with glyphosate. ZipPod must be added to a tank mix last in order to avoid potential lock-up. The advantage of ZipPod is that it offers excellent timing flexibility.”
Mr Hugill adds that ZipPod should be applied at a rate of 1-litre/ha in 150-litre/ha of water. However, in some thick canopy crops, water volumes must be increased but so too must the rate of ZipPod.
“It’s important to use a flat fan nozzle on the sprayer line to ensure the liquid goes straight down, penetrating the canopy all the way to the bottom pods. Sprayer forward speed should be about 12kph and boom height needs to be about 50cm above the canopy.” Pod sealant application timing is as important as the active ingredient says Mr Hugill. The optimum timing is GS 80-88 unless there is any sign of pod colour fading, in which case applying it as soon as possible is critical. And always be aware of the weather, so if it looks like its heading for a wet period, get it on early.
“The advantage of ZipPod is that it acts like a flexible silicon so pods can still grow after application,” he says.
“ZipPod has the advantage of working well on crops which suffer from early senescence as well as those on heavier, more water- retentive soils where growth is lush and yields tend to be higher. On lower yielding areas, applying the pod sealant protects crops from pod splitting, while allowing other parts of the field to continue growing.”
Mr Hugill says that a well timed and quality pod sealant can help to minimise crop losses at harvest of up to 0.3t/ha. Peas also offer a very good entry to first wheat, but they are a more weather-dependent crop that needs more management to help reach the full yield and quality potential.
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