Chickpeas Continue To Grow In Popularity

It could be the brightest star in the pulse-crop world these days; chickpeas.

"Chickpeas are really up,up,up, in almost all categories. For the last four years,five years,production, trade, value, everything seems to be going up for chickpeas, t's a very hot market right now," said USDA Ag Economist Travis Minor.

He noted a projected 8% increase in the sowing of chickpeas in 2018, which would set a record if realized.  Minor explained what is driving this recent increase in production.

"Fueled, probably, by consumer demand, humus products, humus especially seems to be driving a lot of this."

Minor adds a testament to chickpeas growing consumer demand comes from one of our nation's largest pulse-export customers, India.  Recent Indian tariffs on pulses have impacted dry-pea and lentil exports to that country in 2017, but for chickpeas, he notes it doesn't seem to be having as dramatic an affect, yet.

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