Grain legume production and use in European agricultural systems

ISBN(print) 978-0-12-812419-2; Editor DL SparksThere is a great demand for high-protein materials for livestock feed in Europe and European agriculture has a deficit of about 70% high-protein materials of which 87% is met by imported soybean and soy meal. This reflects the fact that grain legumes are currently under represented in European agriculture and produced on only 1.5% of the arable land in Europe compared with 14.5%on aworldwide basis. Several grain legumes have the potential to replace at least some of the soya currently used in the diets of monogastric animals, ruminants, and fish. There are also opportunities for greater use of legumes in new foods. Here we review the contribution of ecosystem services by grain legumes in European agriculture startingwith provisioningservices in termsof food and feed and moving on to the contribution theymake to both regulating and supporting serviceswhich are in part due to the diversity which these crops bring to cropping systems. We explore the need to understand grain legume production on the time scale of a rotation rather than a cropping season in order to value and manage the agronomic challenges of weed, pests, and diseases alongside themaintenance or improvement of soil structure, soil organic matter, and nutrient cycling. A review of policy interventions to support grain legumes reveals that until very recently these have failed to make a difference in Europe. We contrast the European picture with the interventions that have allowed the development of grain legume production in both Canada and Australia. Whether farmers choose to grow more legumes will depend on market opportunities, the development of supply chains, and policy support aswell as technicalimprovementsof grainlegumeproductionsuchas breeding of new varieties and management development to improve yield stability. However, to really increase the production of grain legumes in Europe, the issues are far more wide reaching than agronomy or subsidy and require a fundamental rethinking of value chains to move grain legumes from being niche products to mainstream commodities.Peer reviewe

Advances in faba bean genetics and genomics

Vicia faba L, is a globally important grain legume whose main centers of diversity are the Fertile Crescent and Mediterranean basin. Because of its small number (six) of exceptionally large and easily observed chromosomes it became a model species for plant cytogenetics the 70s and 80s. It is somewhat ironic therefore, that the emergence of more genomically tractable model plant species such as Arabidopsis and Medicago coincided with a marked decline in genome research on the formerly favored plant cytogenetic model. Thus, as ever higher density molecular marker coverage and dense genetic and even complete genome sequence maps of key crop and model species emerged through the 1990s and early 2000s, genetic and genome knowledge of Vicia faba lagged far behind other grain legumes such as soybean, common bean and pea. However, cheap sequencing technologies have stimulated the production of deep transcriptome coverage from several tissue types and numerous distinct cultivars in recent years. This has permitted the reconstruction of the faba bean meta-transcriptome and has fueled development of extensive sets of Simple Sequence Repeat and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers. Genetics of faba bean stretches back to the 1930s, but it was not until 1993 that DNA markers were used to construct genetic maps. A series of Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-based genetic studies mainly targeted at quantitative loci underlying resistance to a series of biotic and abiotic stresses were conducted during the 1990's and early 2000s. More recently, SNP-based genetic maps have permitted chromosome intervals of interest to be aligned to collinear segments of sequenced legume genomes such as the model legume Medicago truncatula, which in turn opens up the possibility for hypotheses on gene content, order and function to be translated from model to crop. Some examples of where knowledge of gene content and function have already been productively exploited are discussed. The bottleneck in associating genes and their functions has therefore moved from locating gene candidates to validating their function and the last part of this review covers mutagenesis and genetic transformation, two complementary routes to validating gene function and unlocking novel trait variation for the improvement of this important grain legume

A Comparative Nitrogen Balance and Productivity Analysis of Legume and Non-legume Supported Cropping Systems:The Potential Role of Biological Nitrogen Fixation

The potential of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) to provide sufficient N for production have encouraged re-appraisal of cropping systems that deploy legumes. It has been argued that legume-derived N can maintain productivity as an alternative to the application of mineral fertiliser, although few studies have systematically evaluated the effect of optimising the balance between legumes and non N-fixing crops to optimise production. In addition, the shortage, or even absence in some regions, of measurements of BNF in crops and forages severely limits the ability to design and evaluate new, legume–based agroecosystems. To provide an indication of the magnitude of BNF in European agriculture, a soil-surface N-balance approach was applied to historical data from 8 experimental cropping systems that compared legume and non-legume crop types (e.g. grains, forages and intercrops) across pedoclimatic regions of Europe. Mean BNF for different legume types ranged from 32-115 kg ha-1 annually. Output in terms of total biomass (grain, forage, etc.) was 30% greater in non-legumes, which used N to produce dry matter more efficiently than legumes, whereas output of N was greater from legumes. When examined over the crop sequence, the contribution of BNF to the N-balance increased to reach a maximum when the legume fraction was around 0.5 (legume crops were present in half the years). BNF was lower when the legume fraction increased to 0.6-0.8, not because of any feature of the legume, but because the cropping systems in this range were dominated by mixtures of legume and non-legume forages to which inorganic N as fertiliser was normally applied. Forage (e.g. grass and clover), as opposed to grain crops in this range maintained high outputs of biomass and N. In conclusion, BNF through grain and forage legumes have the potential to generate major benefit in terms of reducing or dispensing with the need for mineral N without loss of total output

Strategies and selection criteria for participatory cotton breeding in Uganda : a diagnostic study

The lack of suitable varieties and the shortage of organically multiplied seed constrain the development of the organic cotton production. To address the availability of suitable varieties in the long term, the international organic cotton community initiated organic cotton breeding in India and Burkina Faso, and the Louis Bolk Institute is developing a project in Uganda, Africa’s largest organic cotton producer. A participatory approach in which organic farmers select in their fields was chosen, to gain insights into agronomical traits, and make the release of a cotton variety for organic agriculture economical. To review the aims and underlying assumptions of this project, a diagnostic study was conducted. The objectives were to analyse the Ugandan cotton sector and its stakeholders, to investigate the cotton production system and main constraints, to identify the plant traits that organic and conventional small-scale producers prefer, and to explore the possibilities to breed for resistance to the lygus bug (Lygus vosseleri R., Miridae), suspected to be the major pest in organic cotton production

Online determination tool for pests

Stock pests can cause severe damage to agricultural products. In addition, it is sometimes difficult to determine the pest and know what measures would be most helpful.. The online tool helps determine the pest and provides information on its biology and suitable measures. It contains data on more than 40 storage pests, and it is being expanded continuously. First, the pests can be filtered by organism group, location of infestation and infected product. Thus, only matching pests are displayed in a list. For each pest, there is a description of its appearance and biology, its pattern of damage and suitable control strategies. The tool only suggests measures that are permitted in organic farming. Therefore, it can be quite helpful for organic farmers, but it might also be of use to conventional farmers

Magnitude and farm-economic value of grain legume pre-crop benefits in Europe: A review

Grain legume production offers multiple environmental benefits and can enhance sustainability of European farming, but their production area is declining constantly. Grain legume competitiveness is frequently constrained by lower gross margins compared to agronomically suitable cropping alternatives, but it can be improved by appreciating their ability to increase yield of subsequent crop(s) and, potentially, to reduce input requirements (fertiliser, biocide, tillage). Information on the magnitude of grain legume pre-crop effects is diverse and has not been synthesised for European agriculture. This paper reviews research on pre-crop benefits to yield and input requirements of subsequent crops, and the farm-economic profitability of grain legumes in European cropping systems. This includes an analysis of the magnitude of pre-crop benefits to cereal yields measured in 29 experiments in Europe; and 19 studies on grain legume gross margins ranging from crop to cropping system level are assessed. In the available studies, yield benefits of legumes to subsequent crops are highest under low nitrogen fertilisation to subsequent crops and fertilisation can be reduced by 60 kg N ha−1 on average under maintenance of acceptable yields. With the aim at maximising yield potential, nitrogen fertilisation following grain legumes can be reduced by 23–31 kg ha−1, and cereal yields are mostly 0.5–1.6 Mg ha−1 higher than after cereal pre-crops. With adequate estimates of pre-crop benefits, gross margins of full crop rotations can better assess grain legume competitiveness. In the studies reviewed, 35 of 53 modelled crop rotations with grain legumes were competitive with comparable non-legume rotations. Grain legume rotations were more competitive under conservation tillage systems if gross margin calculations accounted for cost savings arising from adjusted machinery requirements. In conclusion, grain legume pre-crop value is a crucial component of their farm-economic profitability in European cropping systems, but further experimental research is required to ascertain its magnitude. Expanding profitability measures to consider pre-crop effects substantially increases the number of situations where grain legumes can compete with cereals, and has a small positive effect on their competitiveness with alternative break crops. Besides a better consideration of the pre-crop value, further genetic and agronomic improvement in legume cropping, supportive market development, and policy support are required if Europe is to utilise environmental benefits of legumes and increase the sustainability of its farming