A pea and bean benchmarking guide designed to help pulse growers assess crop development, optimise management decisions and improve crop performance will be launched at the Cereals event by partners in the NCS project.
Developed by researchers from PGRO and ADAS as part of the NCS project, the guide summarises the development of well-performing crops monitored through the Pea and Bean Yield Enhancement Networks (YEN). It brings together key measures of crop growth and performance into a set of practical developmental benchmarks that growers can use to compare how their own crops are progressing throughout the season.
The free guide is intended to support both new and experienced pea and bean growers by enabling them to compare crop performance against development observed through the YEN programme. A digital version will also be available to download from the NCS project website www.ncsproject.co.uk and via PulsePEP.
Erin Matlock, PGRO research agronomist, said: “There’s no single formula for growing high-performing pulse crops, but these benchmarks give growers and agronomists a practical way to compare crop progress against the development patterns typically seen in successful pea and bean crops. By doing so, they can identify where seasonal conditions or management decisions may have influenced performance, while also highlighting opportunities to refine management in future seasons.”
