More beans on the table, more beauty on the fields

The world is hungry for plant protein as basis of feed and food and, at the same time, the soil is calling for more leguminous crops to strive on the way to sustainability.

Looking at the two aspects together can lead to solving both problems at once, a brilliant example of killing two birds with one stone, even if the goal is to save all birds and not to kill any.

Increasing pulses consumption, in whatever form, leads to a higher share of leguminous species in the crop rotation, offering a valuable set of side environmental effects:

1. less nitrogen fertilizers use, thanks to the fact that they are able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and they can use it for their own growth but also release it in the soil for following crops. This, in turn, leads to better water quality preservation, with reduce nitrate leaching;
2. diversification and widening of crop rotation, with improved resilience towards climate change, higher protection of soil from loss of organic matter and microbiological activity;
3. increased biodiversity, thanks to a more diverse range of crops with a higher appeal to pollinators and beneficial insects;
4. reduced use of pesticides, due to the diversification that interrupts pathogens cycles and the fact that legumes are less susceptible to pests and diseases compared to cereals.

 

Despite all the advantages, nowadays grain legumes have a very reduced share in European  farmland, Eurostat data from 2015 report a 2,1%. Moreover, the diversity of cultivated legumes is progressively reducing to 3 main crops: soybean, faba bean and pea, all used for feed rather than food. A large variety of other species, strongly rooted in European tradition of cultivation and consumption, have lost space since the 50s but are regaining interest from the consumers perspective. They are chickpea, lentils, lupin, hundreds of different types of beans and peas. What is needed to bring them back in the field and on the table is a twofold strategy to facilitate their use through new products, closer to modern consumers taste, especially among younger people, and more efficient cultivation paths.

All strategies for crop and farming diversification acknowledge legumes a pivotal  role, being a cover crop, a fodder crop or a cash crop. Key elements of successful strategies are innovative ways to cultivate and harvest like intercropping, relay cropping, use of living mulches and green manures. The overall purpose is to enhance diversity, increase legumes share and all the benefits they offer. An interesting cluster of researchers and practitioners committed to these topics set up a common platform and launched several initiatives and scientific events to promote the transition towards more sustainable farming systems supported by more responsible food habits: much to share, much to use and still much more to be fully used.