Number of plants per unit area (plant population), multiplied by the number of pods per plant, times the number of seeds per pod, and finally the individual seed size (thousand-seed weight).
Seven to nine plants per square food provides the starting point for higher yields.
Lower plant populations can also achieve high yields, but seed placement and effective weed control need to be excellent to help compensate.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan pea studies (*) that wrapped up way back in 2014, determined that more than 20 days above 28 C meant less time in the reproductive phase and lower yield for dryland peas.
Higher seeding rates provided higher yield and increased net returns at both the study’s high and low yielding sites.
*Dr. Rosalind Bueckert’s research, University of Saskatchewan
Bueckert said the length of reproductive growth was an important factor in yield, and that heat stress or lack of moisture caused flower and reproductive node abortion. Conversely, the longer the pea spent in the reproductive growth phase, the higher the yield. Plant breeders are working towards getting the peas to flower earlier and longer (more indeterminate growth), with the anticipation that yield potential can be increased.
Under situations where the farmer targets relatively high yields, the study recommended that farmer also uses a granular inoculant so that nodulation and nitrogen fixation would have the opportunity to provide the higher nitrogen amounts that the higher yielding peas would need. If the peas had a nice, thick canopy and/or disease developed, applying a foliar fungicide would protect and maintain the yield potential of the pea crop.
2026 pea harvest underway on Aug. 12, near Dauphin.