From Lentils to Lupins: Protecting Australia's Pulse Crops

Dr. Lars Kamphuis is an associate professor at Curtin University and the deputy director of the Center for Crop Disease Management where he focuses on crop diseases that impact Australian farmers. The center collaborates extensively with state departments and universities around the country to research diseases relevant to growers throughout Australia. Kamphuis was born and raised in The Netherlands and studied plant breeding and crop protection at Wageningen University. He then had the opportunity to do research in Australia and says he just never left. In this episode, he shares about his experiences with lupins and why the crop is fitting in well in some Australian rotations. He also discusses his work with Sclerotiania stem rot, fungicide resistance and the ascochyta issues Australian farmers have had to deal with. “ A lupin is kind of what we would call an orphan crop. It's not very well known around the globe, but it has a tremendous value. So it does really well in sandy and acidic soils, which is particularly a problem here in Western Australia. So for some of our Australian grain growers, where they have to give breaks to their cereal and canola crops, they need a viable pulse crop in these sandy acidic soils and lupins are a perfect fit.” - Dr. Lars KamphuisThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Dr. Lars Kamphuis, an associate professor at Curtin University and the deputy director of the Center for Crop Disease ManagementExplore the introduction and benefits to adding Lupins in pulse crop rotations in AustraliaUnderstand the challenges of Sclerotiania stem rot, fungicide resistance and ascochyta issues faced by Australian farmers Learn more about the ongoing ascochyta research from our episode in season two with Dr. Kampuis’s colleague, Dr. Jenny DavidsonGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.