Scientists to focus on boosting legume crops

The three-year programme, co-ordinated by SAC, aims to identify the best way to use legumes in each of Europe’s climatic zones, identify the most suitable crop and design a cropping system that reduces farming’s environmental impact.

An SAC spokesman said legumes can be used in rotations to interrupt the build-up of disease; can replace animal feed or fibre crops imported from elsewhere in the world, and can even be used as energy crops.

The programme will bring together data from a network of 18 case studies in 12 countries. In addition to studying the plants and crop systems themselves, the scientists will consider the impact on farmers, small businesses and policy makers.

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