Legumes have a smaller environmental footprint than most other foods. Thanks to symbiosis with root nodule bacteria (rhizobia), they can synthesise their own nitrogen from the air and require little or no added nitrogen at all to grow. But it is not just the sustainability factor that makes them attractive: legumes are inexpensive, easy to store, have high nutritional value, and their ability to improve the soil microbiome has been instrumental in improving farming practices in low-income rural areas. In short, the world's growing population could be fed more sustainably with more legumes.
World Pulses Day is an opportunity to raise awareness of legumes' nutritional benefits as part of sustainable food production. It is a global event proclaimed by the United Nations to recognise the importance of grain legumes as a global food. In late 2018, the United Nations General Assembly established February 10 as World Pulses Day: https://worldpulsesday.org
The term "legume" is used, first, to refer to all plant species that belong to the legume family (Leguminosae). In a narrower sense - for example, in the food industry - legumes are understood to mean grain legumes, or pulses, a subgroup of legumes. In this sense, the term is also meant in connection with the World Pulse Day. The focus of this topic page is also on grain legumes.
Grain legumes include peas, beans, lentils, lupins, soybeans, chickpeas, mung beans and all other legumes in which the seeds are used. They contain valuable proteins and micronutrients and have been an essential part of the human diet for centuries in many countries worldwide. Among other things, cooked as dal, falafel, hummus, baked beans or lentils with spaetzle, or more processed food items, for example, tofu or tempeh. Grain legumes such as field beans, protein peas and especially soya also play an important role in feeding farm animals.
At FiBL, various research projects are concerned with the organic cultivation of grain legumes. On the following pages, you will find background information on the subject and information on FiBL projects, publications and news.
Contact
- Matthias Klaiss (Soya, field beans, peas, intercropping systems)
- Christine Arncken-Karutz (Lupin)
- Thomas Bernet (Soya Eastern Europe)
- Hansueli Dierauer (Intercropping systems)
- Monika Messmer (Breeding)
- Ursula Kretzschmar-Rüger (Processing of grain legumes, food quality)
- Kerstin Spory (Demonstrationsnetzwerk Erbse / Bohne)