Record Pulse Production Projected in Australia

05-Dec-2025 06:09 PM

Canberra. A new report released by ABARES, the Australian government agency, indicates that gross pulse production will reach a new record level during the current 2025-26 marketing season. Significantly, production estimates for all major pulses have been increased in this new report compared to the December report.

Although the progress of the 2025 crop season was due to mixed weather conditions in key producing areas of Australia. Initially, the weather was somewhat dry, followed by a significant decrease, delaying harvests.

However, the average pulse yield rate did not decline significantly. Since the area planted for most pulse crops increased to or near record levels, and productivity remained normal, a significant increase in total production is naturally anticipated.

Harvest preparation for pulse crops in Australia is not yet fully complete, so there is scope for some changes in production figures in the next ABARES report.

According to an ABARES report, Australian chickpea production is expected to fall by 7 percent to 2.1 million tons in the 2025-26 season compared to the 2024-25 season, roughly the same as the September report's estimate.

While this production is lower than last year's record level, it is significantly higher than the five-year average of 6.4 million tons.

Chickpea sown area increased to an all-time high of 1.1 million hectares, while its average yield fell slightly from last year's record level of 2.20 tons per hectare to just below 2 tons per hectare this time.

On the other hand, ABARES has projected domestic lentil production to be more than 50 percent higher than the 2024-25 season, which is 200,000 tons more than the previous record production of 1.7 million tons in 2022-23.

In its September report, ABARES had projected a production of 1.7 million tons of lentils. Along with sowing, its yield rate also increased significantly.