08.04.2025
Growing grain legumes can pose significant risks to farmers in terms of yield and quality variability. Integrating grain legumes into complex crop rotations, especially in organic farming systems with a high proportion of grain legumes, can also prove difficult due to high pathogen and pest pressure. In addition, regional value chains with low processing intensity largely lack market outlets for grain legumes for human consumption. The project participants want to change this and increase the resilience of spring grain peas through genetic diversity. The LegumeMix research project was launched earlier this year to work with farmers to find solutions to these challenges.
"We are pleased to be able to contribute to breeding research in grain legumes for human nutrition and to promote genetic diversity in agriculture with 'LegumeMix'," says Dr. Carl Vollenweider, one of the initiators of the project. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) as part of the BMEL's strategy for protein crops. Numerous project partners are involved, including the Peter Kunz Cereal Breeding Institute, the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), the University of Kassel, the Atelier Ernährungswende and the Dottenfelderhof Research and Breeding Institute.
Specific objectives and implementation
Using the example of summer grain peas, the project will systematically investigate innovative breeding strategies to exploit genetic diversity with the aim of increasing yield stability and resilience. Studies have already shown that the combined cultivation of pea varieties with different leaf shapes can achieve significantly higher positive mixed effects than is known from, for example, cereals.
The project focuses on the so-called Ecologically Heterogeneous Material in the sense of the new EU Eco-regulation and the related approach of variety mixtures. With regard to their development, there are significant gaps in our knowledge of breeding methodology and selection criteria, which will be filled on the basis of multi-site and multi-year field trials. An important focus of the project will be on resistance and tolerance traits of peas to foot and root diseases, which are particularly prevalent in organic farming in complex crop rotations. Some of the trials will be intercropped with spring barley to further increase diversity in the cropping system.
With regard to the use of grain peas in human nutrition in regional value chains, milling and baking trials with grain peas will be carried out in three bakery categories: wheat bread with peas, wheat biscuits with peas and spelt mixed bread with peas. The practical transfer of the project results will be carried out through a close involvement of the Legume Network (LeguNet) and together with agricultural companies as well as through baking workshops.
Project partner:
- Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany
- Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (LfL)
- University of Kassel
- gzpk – Biodynamische Pflanzenzüchtung
- Forschung und Züchtung Dottenfelderhof
- Landesbetrieb Landwirtschaft Hessen (LLH)
- Atelier Ernährungswende
- Gut Mönchhof KG
- Demeterhof Schwalmtal
- LWG Dottenfelderhof KG
Funding:
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) as part of the BMEL's strategy for protein crops.
