Production and Marketing of Garbanzo Beans

		Project Leader: Terrill Swanson, Plainsman Agri-Search Foundation Technical Advisor: Kevin Larson, Research Scientist, Plainsman Research Center Project Year: 2002

Project Summary

Our endeavor was to determine if large-scale production of high quality garbanzo beans was possible in Colorado. We tried to produce enough high quality garbanzo beans to fill a grain trailer to test the high value, salad bar market for garbanzo beans. We were unable to produce garbanzo beans of sufficient quantity and quality to test the salad bar market. Weed control and weather (drought and hail) reduced yields and quality of our garbanzo beans. Of the four sites planted, two sites were abandoned because of weed pressure, one site was lost to hail, and only one site was machine harvested for yield. Weeds greatly reduced the harvestable garbanzo bean crop of the machine-harvested site. The machine-harvested site produced only 4750 lbs., about one-tenth of the crop needed for transport to test the salad bar market.

The weed pressure was what limited the production of the garbanzo beans. On the site where the most beans were harvested, there was good weed control, but as the season progressed, grasses and broadloaf weeds proliferated. This could be due to excessive irrigation (21 inches/acre). The best season-long weed control was at the no-till site, but a few days before harvest, the bean crop was completely destroyed by hail.

Through research, it was found that that the price for garbanzo beans is greatly depressed because of Canada's recent expansion of garbanzo bean production. The price for salad bar quality garbanzo beans was $0.20 to $0.30/lb. before the Canadians saturated the market; the current price is $0.15/lb. Garbanzo beans have a three-tiered pricing schedule in the Colorado salad bar market: large-sized seed, $0.15/lb.; medium-sized seed, $0.10/lb.; and small-sized seed, $0.05/lb. This makes it hard for the growing of garbanzo beans to be profitable and it is recommended that growers clean and size their seed before transporting them to the salad bar market, so that they get the correct amount for the size of their seeds.

For the full text of the annual report, please click here to contact the Specialty Crops Program.