Normally we recommend inoculating all pea seed with an appropriate inoculant just prior to seeding. Due to a larger than expected increase in pea acreage this year there is going to be a shortage of pea inoculants. As a result, we are going to be faced with an inoculant shortage. Plant peas and fertilize as you would for wheat. Remember that as with any large seeded crop try to keep the fertilizer away from the seed.
Peas require a good supply of nitrogen during vegetative growth and seed formation.
Although peas are not native to the prairies, fields that have had well nodulated pea crops in the rotation will have surviving rhizobia in the soil. Current work by Dr. Kevin Vessey funded by Manitoba Pulse Growers Association found that pea rhizobia are widespread throughout Manitoba. In the study 21 sites, from Lettelier to Souris, were established where pea seed with and without a commercial inoculant was seeded. Going back through the crop records it was found that all but the one site had been previously cropped with either peas or lentils. Commercial inoculants contain rhizobia specifically selected for their nodulation and nitrogen fixation capabilities.