About

Legumes contribute to increased European protein self-sufficiency, diversification of cropping systems and farm businesses, reduction in fertiliser and pesticide use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhancement of sustainable diets, and prevention of land degradation and biodiversity loss. Despite these widely recognised benefits, grain legume production in Europe is still low, partly due to inadequate investment in breeding, sub-optimal management practices, and gaps in farmers’ knowledge. To ensure food and nutritional security under climate change and reduce pressures on natural resources, the potential of legumes must be fully utilised.

The LegumeGap project will identify the potential contribution of new cultivars, optimal management practices, and farmers’ knowledge in closing the yield and protein gaps, reducing the observed yield variability and EU-level protein shortfall, and optimising the environmental performance of legume production in Europe. It will focus on two key representative legumes: faba bean and soya bean, due to their growing popularity, broad adaptability and high protein concentration in the seeds.

Results

• Two research groups with complementary interests have been added to the project: The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Wageningen University and Research (WUR). These groups add breadth and depth to our survey of farmers and our analyses of the yield gap of soybean and faba bean. 
• Our survey of farmer knowledge and attitudes has been circulated in 8 countries and we have 745 complete and another 1100 partial responses as of 18 August 2020.
• Field experiments are in progress in Spain, Germany and Poland to test the limits of adaptation of soybean and faba bean along with their responses to novel management practices. 
• Travel restrictions due to COVID-19 have disrupted plans for international visits that are important for analysing and interpreting the results of the experiments and computer modelling work.