Pulse Industry Submission: Fertilizer Emissions Reduction Target

Pulse Canada has been actively engaged in the proposed fertilizer emissions reduction target (FERT) since it was announced in December 2020, and we are pleased to comment on the discussion document which was released on March 11, 2022.

Pulse Canada is the national industry association that represents growers, processors and traders of pulse crops (peas, lentils, dry beans, chickpeas and faba beans) in Canada. The Canadian pulse industry has been steadily growing for decades, with Canada now being the 2nd largest producer and largest exporter of pulses in the world. Pulse growers have always been at the forefront of reducing emissions, as growing legume crops like pulses and soybean reduces the nitrogen requirements of the crop rotation, due to the nitrogen fixation capacity of legumes. Adding pulses and soybeans to crop rotations is a proven method to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian cropping systems while being agronomically beneficial without the need to test and adopt new technologies. In fact, the 3.5 million hectares of pulse crops grown in 2020 reduced greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian agriculture by approximately 3.6 million tonnes (CO2 eq). This reduction in greenhouse gas emissions represents 90% of the 4 million tonne (CO2 eq) emission reduction target of the FERT.