alls' prior to splitting.
Red lentil, sometimes known as ‘small’ or ‘Persian’ lentil, is the most widely grown in Australia. They are sold split for cooking (Masur dhal). The name ‘red lentil’ is derived from the red kernel (cotyledon) colour, which is exposed when split and the seed coat removed. The seed coat colour varies from light grey, through brown to black, and may be speckled. Seed size is generally 4–6 mm in diameter, and red lentil varieties are classified as either small, medium or large-seeded types.
Green lentil, also known as ‘large’ or ‘Chilean’ lentil, are used whole for cooking. The seed coat is green to brown and the kernel (cotyledon) is yellow. Seed size is generally 4.5–8 mm in diameter.
Red and green lentil grain should not be mixed, nor should red lentil of different size categories (small, medium and large).
Niche varieties for restaurant and specialist uses have been developed and locally-adapted varieties of these types are grown in small quantities under contract. These include Spanish brown, French green (verde, du puy), black seeded (‘beluga’) and zero tannin types. Local and export market niches may exist or need to be developed for these types.
Place in the rotation
Lentil is a versatile and lucrative pulse crop in Australia that offers a number of rotational and financial benefits in many cropping systems.
Plan a crop sequence that considers herbicide carryover, weed seed control, disease breaks and cultivation practices that might affect ease of harvest, including rolling lentil, to ensure the lentil crop maximises its contribution to the overall productivity and profitability of the cropping rotation.
Lentil is adapted to all well-drained soil types, from sand to clay loam. Lentil does not tolerate flooding or waterlogged soils, and do best on deep, sandy loams high in phosphorus and potassium. Lentil plants will die if exposed to even short periods waterlogging or flooding. A soil pH near 7.0 is best for lentil production.
Well nodulated lentil plants fix their own nitrogen although they contribute less total nitrogen to the soil through fixation than faba bean, field pea or lupin crops, being more similar to chickpea. Grass-free lentil crops provide an effective break from cereal root disease, including take-all, cereal cyst nematode (CCN) and rhizoctonia. Lentil crops are susceptible to some seed or stubble-borne diseases, including ascochyta blight and botrytis grey mould.
Lentil plants do not compete strongly with weeds but there are crop production practices and weed control options available to ensure effective weed control. To avoid seed contamination at harvest, do not sow lentil into paddocks with a history of vetch. Other pulses are more easily cleaned from lentil seed. Cereal grains are not easily cleaned from lentil grain so self-sown cereals must be removed from lentil crops using grass herbicides.
Like other broadleaf crops, most lentil varieties are particularly sensitive to soil carryover residues of Group B herbicides such as sulfonylurea (SU) and imidazolinone (IMI) and Group I herbicides such as clopyralid and picloram. Not all labels include lentil in the plant-back details, so extra caution and advice from the manufacturer or your advisor is recommended after using these herbicides. The recently released varieties PBA Hurricane XT and PBA Herald XT varieties show less sensitivity to sulfonylurea and imidazolinone (Group B) herbicide carryover residues from previous crop applications.
Both PBA Hurricane XT and PBA Herald XT have herbicidal tolerance to imazethapyr when applied pre or post-emergence as per APVMA PER14369. They also have improved tolerance to flumetsulam when applied in-crop. In conventional lentil varieties flumetsulam applied according to label directions may cause height reduction, crop discolouration, delayed flowering and yield loss. When flumetsulam is applied to PBA Herald XT or PBA Hurricane XT according to label directions the risk of crop damage and yield loss is minimised.
Weed control options and rotation safety is therefore improved for l