GRAINCORP'S head trader for pulses is keen to see sustainable growth in the Australian pulse industry.
Most of the state's chickpeas, however, are sold into markets on the sub-continent and the global price is dictated by the seasonal production in India.
"In 2012 Australia benefited from lower production in India pushing the price for chickpea to unusual heights," he said.
"This happened to coincide with a large crop in Australia.
"Last year India's production was higher so their demand was less and again there was a bumper crop in Australia. These two factors combined have lowered the prices paid for Australian chickpeas this season."
He said this year's chickpea crop in India looked like it would break all production records - an estimated 9.6 million tonnes compared with 7.7mt in 2012, according to Indian government estimates.
"We can expect downward pressure on prices, but it might not be as much as people might immediately expect."
Mr Poutney also highlighted the potential for rapid changes in circumstances, with heavy rain damaging many crops in India just before their harvest.
He said this had caused an increase in demand and an associated rise in global price for chickpeas in the past few weeks.
"Another factor to consider is the Indian paradox. The demand for chickpeas in India does not always follow the simple supply and demand curve," Mr Poutney said.
"About half of India's population derives income from agriculture and we often see increased domestic consumption in prosperous years. This means that although imports to India may be subdued this year due to their higher domestic production, there is likely to still be demand for imported chickpeas from Australia.
"Another unfortunate downside for the industry in India is that there is insufficient infrastructure in place to store the large grain crops, including 95 million tonnes of wheat."
Mr Poutney reminded growers that chickpea production in India was unlikely to continue to grow and was very prone to seasonal cycles.
"Even at this lower price chickpeas still offer Australian growers solid gross margins compared to wheat and barley."
Another factor known to affect the demand for chickpeas in India was the vague relationship between chickpea and yellow pea flour consumption.
"We notice that demand for chickpea delivered at Indian ports increases as the price moves lower, relative to the price for yellow pea delivered at Indian ports. Currently, global prices for yellow pea are well supported with increased demand from China, thereby supporting the overall chickpea prices," Mr Poutney said.
Domestically, Mr Poutney has noticed that with lower international chickpea prices, many growers had found alternative, higher paying markets in Australia, including selling chickpeas for stockfeed.
Pulse Australia chief Gordon Cumming said chickpeas offered significant agronomic advantages in the north.
"Nitrogen fixing, high water use efficiency and the ability to plant deep to chase planting moisture all make a positive contribution to the farming system. Even at the likely lower price, chickpeas remain a profitable crop for growers, in addition to the agronomic benefits."
GrainCorp, a member of Pulse Australia, has focused mainly on bulk handling and logistics, not lower volume pulse grains.
"GrainCorp has grown their container business to 450,000 tonnes, with well over 50,000 containers of pulses going to the Indian Sub-continent and the remainder destined for ports in China," Mr Poutney said.
GrainCorp has three ports in Queensland in Mackay, Gladstone and Brisbane, including a container packing facility in the Port of Brisbane that is ideally located to export pulses.