Canada’s Strong Chickpea Harvest Lifts National Stocks

12-Dec-2025 07:58 PM

Vancouver. Canada is projected to see a robust chickpea production due to increased acreage and high average yields. According to a report by the government agency, StatsCan,

Canada produced 28.7 million tons of chickpeas in 2024, while current production (2025) is expected to reach a peak of 48.2 million tons, a staggering 68 percent increase. Harvesting has already concluded, and markets are now seeing robust trade.

However, producers are facing a serious problem. Unseasonal rains occurred during harvesting in key Canadian growing areas. While this did not significantly impact production, the quality of chickpeas was severely affected.

Consequently, producers are struggling to sort out the smaller, inferior grains from the stock of good grains. Buyers show less interest in purchasing mixed grain, and its price is also not high.

According to rough estimates, the scenario after sorting this year shows that only 52 percent of chickpea stocks are in the No. 1 CW and No. 2 CW categories, while the remaining stock is classified as No. 3 CW or sample grade.

Sample grade goods are lighter, while No. 3 CW is also considered of poor quality and is primarily used for animal feed purposes due to its relatively low price.

While the excellent production has significantly increased the overall supply and availability of chickpeas in Canada, there are doubts about a significant increase in exportable stocks.

In Western Canada, the FOB farm price of No. 2 quality large-grain chickpeas has softened slightly to around 27 cents per pound.

Prices are graded based on grain size and quality. Meanwhile, total chickpea production in Australia is estimated at 2.1 million tons, which, although slightly lower than the record production of 2024, is still a very high level. Australia primarily produces indigenous chickpeas.