THERE are smiles all around as the 2014-15 mungbean season comes to an end.
This is the year the Australian mungbean industry came of age, with strong market demand supporting new growers, and new varieties withstanding a range of disease and climatic challenges across the growing regions.
Regal Seed & Grain managing director Damien White said the area sown in central Queensland was close to double the usual area in response to strong export demand for mungbean this season.
“We saw the first spring mungbean planting for many years and a large summer planting,” he said.
“Some crops under the eye of Cyclone Marcia had up to 1.5 metres of water over them and still achieved yields of 0.6 tonnes a hectare of processing-quality beans.
“This is a remarkable result and proves the plant breeding program is on the right track with resilient varieties.
“For most other growers the cyclone brought some very welcome in-crop rain for the summer crop. We have previously seen Crystal revolutionise demand for Australian mungbean and the new variety Jade-AU has been accepted as the new high-quality, shiny green mungbean from Australia.
“Buyers are asking for Jade-AU by name and it has also performed very well in the field, having withstood significant weathering challenges this season.”
Mr White said tan spot was present this year but the good growing conditions and the strength of the Jade-AU plants fended off widespread infection.
“There was also patchy pressure from mirids in early crops due to the mild winter in 2014 enabling the insects to over-winter and attack young crops.
“Their numbers died down over summer though and did not present a problem for later planted crops.”
As the last of the CQ crop comes in processors are cleaning and packaging the grain as fast as they can to meet market demand.
Mr White is expecting the price to ease slightly over coming months and expects all the Australian crop to be marketed early.
“The biggest change I have seen in the past few years is in the number of growers talking about mungbean as being a permanent part of their summer farming system.
“Even five years ago mungbean was seen as an opportunity crop. There is now real growth potential for the industry with reliable varieties, good agronomy, strong market demand and solid supply.”
Dale Reeves of Peters Commodities said the Darling Downs and northern NSW districts also fared well, particularly with the summer-sown crop.
“Several growers took advantage of an opportunity to plant in spring but heatwave conditions saw a loss in yield and quality,” Mr Reeves said.
“Although there was some disappointment in the result it is unlikely that any growers suffered financial loss from this crop. Demand was high and even beans sold as manufacturing grade provided solid returns per hectare.”
Crops planted in late January benefitted from good in-crop rain, thanks in part to Cyclone Marcia, and even temperatures. These crops grew well and produced high yields although there was some weathering that has downgraded a portion of consignments to processing grade. As in CQ, there was a major uptake of Jade-AU with more than 70 per cent of the area sown to the new variety. “We had anticipated a 30 to 40pc adoption rate of Jade-AU in its first fully commercial year so the supply of seed was tight.”
This year mungbean was also an attractive option for irrigators, providing good returns per megalitre.
“Returns of over $1000 per tonne to growers has made mungbean very competitive in terms of gross margins.
“Once a grower has some experience with the crop and is achieving optimal yields, then they can afford to plant even if the price eases.
“This is also a good time to start monitoring the market conditions and gaining an understanding of price drivers in relation to grain quality.”
The commitment of the Australian Mungbean Association (AMA) to quality assurance is also paying off with a high level of grower support for the vendor declaration system.
AMA president Rob Anderson said many buyers were asking to see the declarations and be assured of the quality and food safety of the product they were purchasing.
“In many countries mungbeans are consumed in the form they leave the country and buyers want to be certain that the product is safe to eat,” Mr Anderson said.
“Buyers recognise and value the clean, green and safe product available from Australia and it is in the industry’s best interest to do everything possible to maintain that good image in the market.”
Growing demand from China is a positive sign for the Australian industry, which has previously supplied mainly to India and to countries in south-east Asia.
Pulse Australia national manager Gordon Cumming said mungbean was recognised as part of the ‘landscape’ for many northern region growers and this had attracted ongoing funding and support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation, state governments and universities to minimise production risks.
“When the seasonal conditions are right and demand is strong, growers can be confident that mungbean can be profitable summer legume crop,” he said.
“Growers, agronomists and advisers who are serious about maximising productivity and profitability are taking advantage of the industry support and extension activities, such as the mungbean best management practice training courses, that Pulse Australia provides in collaboration with the Australian Mungbean Association and the Queensland and NSW state government.”
