Re-diversifying agri-food systems in Europe: legumes as agents of change
Pietro (Pete) Iannetta - [email protected]
Agroecologist, www.TRUE-project.eu Coordinator James Hutton Institute, Dundee, Scotland UK
2019 ALTER-Net & EKLIPSE Conference The EU Biodiversity Strategy Beyond 2020, Tuesday 18th June 2019 Abstract
Re-diversifying agri-food system in Europe: legumes as agents of change.
Pietro P.M. Iannetta, Graham Begg, Cathy Hawes, Alison Karley, Geoff Squire. Ecological Sciences, James Hutton Institute, Dundee, Scotland UK
Abstract
European agri-food systems are supported by cultivation of very few crop types, and yields are realised mostly as ‘feed’ (i.e. not food), to satisfy meat production and other industrial processes e.g. biofuels. Additionally, such yields are usually achieved using ‘conventional practices’ characterised by monocropping and the excessive application of pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertiliser with consequent losses of ecosystem functions and biodiversity.
More-diverse systems could incorporate legume crops, which are characterised by their capacity for ‘biological nitrogen fixation’ (BNF). BNF by legumes is realised via a symbiosis which allows biologically useful nitrogen to be ‘fixed’ from atmospheric di-nitrogen gas. This fixed-nitrogen is then converted to protein- (and carbohydrate-) rich vegetation and/or grains. Furthermore, well-managed legume-supported systems are multifunctional offering the provision of: nutritious food; natural-pest and disease-control; improved soil quality; internal nitrogen cycling and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; the restoration and conservation biodiversity; and the maintenance of ‘good-food culture’ and ‘food literacy’. However, the ecological and socio-ecological benefits of legume-based agri-food systems are forfeited in Europe due to the fact the (grain) legumes consumed are imported to realise feed- (and not food-) security.
We draw upon research activities within the EU-H2020 projects www.true-project.eu and www.plant-teams.eu to appraise the drivers of legume exclusion from agri-food systems. We present legumes as underutilised crop types with the potential to re-diversify agri-food systems to help redress the ecological and socio-economic costs of unsustainable agronomic practices and associated supply-chain structures.
Acknowledgements: The James Hutton Institute is supported by Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services (RESAS), a division of the Scottish Government. The TRUE and DIVERSify projects are funded by the EU Horizon2020 Research and Innovation Programme, Grant Agreement numbers 727973 and 727284, respectively.
Please cite as: Iannetta, P.P.M., Begg, G., Hawes, C., Karley, A., Squire, G. (2019) Re- diversifying agri-food system in Europe: legumes as agents of change. Proceedings of the ALTER-Net & EKLIPSE Conference, ’The EU Biodiversity Strategy Beyond 2020’. Ghent, Belgium, Tuesday 17th - 19th June. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.15996.39040 The James Hutton Institute
James Hutton (1726-1797) Geologist - Naturalist - Farmer
Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen Mylnefield Farm, Dundee Laboratories Laboratories, glasshouses and arable land
Balruddery Farm, Angus Glensaugh, Kincardineshire Arable farm (350 ha) Rotational grassland, permanent Pearson (2003) "In Retrospect".pasture, heather Nature moor 425, and665 .peat (865 ha) A report on Hutton’s 1794 treatise www.hutton.ac.uk ‘An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge and of the Progress of Reason, from Sense to Science and Philosophy’
3 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen Mylnefield Farm, Dundee Laboratories Laboratories, glasshouses and arable land
Balruddery Farm, Angus Glensaugh, Kincardineshire Arable farm (350 ha) Rotational grassland, permanent pasture, heather moor and peat (865 ha)
www.hutton.ac.uk
4 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Ecological Sciences Group: Agroecology
Support staff - 4 post-doctoral scientists - 7 Research assistants Graham Begg - 5 PhD students Ecological Modeler Research Capacities & Platforms e.g. Cathy Hawes - Insectaries (aphids, arthropods) Ecologist - Symbiotic & facilitative microbes - Arable wild plant collection Pete Iannetta Agroecologist - Global faba bean germplasm collection Research Platforms (spanning supply chains) Alison Karley - Centre for Sustainable Cropping Plant-insect interaction - Balruddery Catchment Forum Geoff Squire - East of Scotland Farm Network (non-salaried) - International Barley Hub Ecologist - The Living Field - education platform
Long history agroecological monitoring via online data-servers, -management and -mining - Formed ca 15y ago (UK Gov. funded ‘Farm Scale Evaluations’) o EU-FP7-SIGMEA, -PURE, -LEGUME FUTURES o EU- H2020 TRUE, TOMRES (www.tomres.eu) o DIVERSify (www.plant-teams.eu)
5 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Q: Why is there a lack of reaction on reactive-nitrogen?
Steffen et al., (2015) Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet. Science 347, 6223. - Planetary boundaries” are exceeded for N- and P-based pollutants - The use of synthetic N & P via agriculture is
Rockström et al., (2009). A safe operating a main source of diversity loss space for humanity. Nature 461, 472.
6 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute “The nitrate time-bomb”
Ascott et al., (2017) Global patterns of nitrate storage in the vadose zone. Nature Communications, 8 1416.
Geocafe.com
7 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute “The nitrate time-bomb”
Ascott et al., (2017) Global patterns of nitrate storage in the vadose zone. Nature Communications, 8 1416.
8 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Deoxygenation of open ocean and coastal waters Impacts severely and negatively on biodiversity, biogeochemistry, food security
A function of climate change and eutrophication (nitrogen and phosphorous run-off)
- blue shaded regions; oxygen-minimum zones at 300 m depth −1 −1 - Red (dots): O2 declines to <2 mg L (<63 μmol L ) [Source: data and map by R. Diaz and GO2NE Network (respectively), available from World Ocean Atlas, 2009]
See also: Breitburg et al., (2018) Declining oxygen in the global ocean and coastal waters. Science 359(6371), DOI: 10.1126/science.aam7240
9 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Q: Why not aspire to ‘neutral-nitrogen’ farming?
Excess fertiliser can exponentially boost the emissions of microbes
Shcherbak et al., (2014). Global meta-analysis of the nonlinear response of soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to fertilizer nitrogen. Proceedings National Academy Sciences 111, 9199.
Q: Could well managed legume-supported cropped systems help?
10 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute What is a legume?
A simple Schematic - legume CO2
So, legumes:
can acquire their nitrogen (N2) from air via a natural process called biological nitrogen fixation; and
Biologically Photosynthate useful N Legumes are multifunctional, and properly managed offer….
• support pollinators / beneficial insects • can be biocontrol agents • improve soil-qualities & -diversity therefore need • gift nitrogen to non-legumes no synthetic nitrogen fertiliser • liberate soil phosphorous • high protein, high carbohydrate • low GI (resistant) starches (pulses) openclipart.org • good source of essential minerals
11 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Legume types Forage legumes
Grain legumes (pulses and oleaginous types) Vetches (Vicia spps)
Pisum sativum L. (pea) Clovers (Trifolium spps).
Vicia faba L. (faba bean)
- Eaten by animals in-field - Harvested and stored until needed (silage) - Left in the field as a natural fertiliser o as either green-, brown- or living-manure - Increasingly, forage legumes are biorefined
Used to feed people and animals
12 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute 1Tg = 1Mt Import crises?
- Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser use (10 mt y-1) o 23 % imported Fertilizer (31 Tg) o demand set to increase
- 70 % of total grain legume demand is imported [2009] o usually soybean o often GM Grain (12 Tg) o from ex-rainforest areas
- Grain legumes cropped on only 1-4% of land area (15 % more realistic)
Q: Will home-grown legumes off-set Meat (0.8 Tg) synthetic fertiliser & protein imports? International trade in reactive nitrogen Source: Galloway et al., (2008). Science 320, 889. See also: Erisman et al., (2008). Nature Geosci. 1, 636.
13 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Currently: legumes – animal feed – land use
- unsustainable consumption relates to feed production mainly; - our current paradigm presents a puzzle of negative impacts to resolve.
- Europe already has legume supported agri-feed systems, but…. o the potential benefits of legumes are forfeited (paradox), as we use imports. o Q: Will home-grown legumes help improve land-use, and for biodiversity?
Cereals 0.8 kg Livestock Dairy meat/output Grass (clover) 0.8 kg 2x global average Feed Consumption meat 0.1 kg Grain legumes (imported) 1.2 kg (75%) (70% higher than RDA) 3 kg pp(EU)-1 d-1 milk 0.8 kg Legumes (local) 0.4 kg (25%)
2/3rd EU farmed area Biodiversity loss Eutrophication Human health cost (feed production) (30% globally) (80% N is lost) (diabetes, cardiovascular) (mainly as pasture) Aquaculture global wild fish stocks 40% of catch globally (80% of over-exploited) (only 20% in Europe) Schematic diagram developed from: Westhoek et al., 2011. The Protein Puzzle. Euro J Food Res Rev 1, 123.
14 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Habitat loss = Biodiversity loss
- Hallmann et al., (2017) PloS one, 12(10), p.e0185809. - German reserves (“protected areas”) - over 75 % decline in 27 y
- The main factors are suggested as: - habitat conversion (loss) - pesticides - perhaps also climate change
- Forage-systems use little pesticide, but large land areas
- Legumes in arable areas: could help drive wider IPM (low pesticide) strategy. Q: is this sufficient?
The Guardian(UK newspaper) Oct 18th ‘17
15 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Habitat conversion: a main driver of biodiversity loss
Will habitat re-conversion or rewilding will be the main driver of biodiversity recovery?
What of the meat industry?
What is the role of legumes without Source: www.iucnredlist.org/ the meat industry?
16 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Legumes: multifunctional agents to resolve environmental-, biodiversity, and human- health crises?
- Global agriculture: nitrogen pollution, ~25 % of GHGs, in ~5y main source of GHGs
- Major global health issues prevalent: o 1980 – 2017 obesity doubled (30% of global population) o heart disease / diabetes increasing (cost- as well as health-burden) o 30% of global population suffer nutrient deficiencies (≠ same 30% obese)
- 5th Assessment Report IPCC highlighted potential of sustainable consumption to combat climate change (www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/ )
Q: What is sustainable consumption?
17 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Evidencing sustainable consumption: Life Cycle Assessment tools (food labelling)
Legume grains are consistently good for you and the environment Inferred sustainability Inferred sustainability
High Low High Low
Nitrogen / GHG Eutrophication (phosphorus) Nutrient Density Units (NDU) Q: Is there accommodation of biodiversity impacts in food labelling?
18 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute EU policies relevant for legume supported systems
European Plant Climate Protein change Trade Plan Policy incoherence Regional Environ- develop- Economic dependencies CAP ment ment Conflicts (of interest)
Dietetics, R&D Biodive- nutrition Innovation & health rsity
19 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Great legume grain self-sufficiency in EU may help biodiversity in other locations
A comparative-LCA of gin made using wheat or peas
Leinhardt et al., (2019) Just the tonic…. Environment International (In Press).
Good for environment but more EU arable-land area req.
Future LCA in this area: - intercropped pea and wheat - protein isolated from pot-ale for food
20 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute What constitutes a legitimate policy narrative to ensure sustainable land-use Serving who/what?
Increase EU’s self-sufficiency Improve citizens health, for grain legume protein nutrition & wellbeing
Combat biodiversity loss & Develop capacities for climate change education & innovation
Facilitating Q: Is the prioritisation of habitat (re-)conversion a better means to address biodiversity loss and climate change? Q: Should society move to decouple animal feed production and land-use?
21 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Decoupling meat production and land use Beyond Meat™ (www.beyondmeat.com/)
The utility of Life Cycle Assessment in the ready meal food industry Calderón et al., 2010 - Beyond Meat – Life Cycle Assessment report - Stock market flotation (May’19 for $3.8 billion)
22 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Decoupling meat production and land use Beyond Meat™ (www.beyondmeat.com/)
The utility of Life Cycle Assessment in the ready meal food industry Calderón et al., 2010 - Beyond Meat – Life Cycle Assessment report - Stock market flotation (May’19 for $3.8 billion)
Will local agri-food systems and diversity benefit? Will they use a broad range of legumes in processing? (only pea so far)
23 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Decoupling meat production and land use Beyond Meat™ (www.beyondmeat.com/)
The utility of Life Cycle Assessment in the ready meal food industry Calderón et al., 2010 - Beyond Meat – Life Cycle Assessment report - Stock market flotation (May’19 for $3.8 billion)
Will local agri-food systems and diversity benefit? Will they use a broad range of legumes in processing? (only pea so far)
24 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Decoupling meat production from land-use
Vegan, vegetarian and especially demitarian diets may help encourage more- sustainable consumption, but not necessarily sustainable use of land locally
- Questions must be asked: o What is the provenance of my food? (produced locally?) o What is the provenance of the materials used to produce my food? o How is provenance valorised/evidenced?
- There are other proteins sources to decouple meat production and land-use o Algal proteins; currently too expensive but in time….. o Lab-, in vitro- or “clean-meat” and “-fish”: ETA 2020 e.g. www.finlessfoods.com o Insect proteins: already here….
Q: What is the place of legumes if protein production is decoupled from land use?
25 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute Is the future of legumes supporting energy production via biorefining?
Understanding the generations of biofuels
- 1st - ethanol/biodiesel from food crops – mainly soybean, oilseeds, rape seed, maize, oil palm o high levels of biodiversity loss. o e.g. see Elshout et al., (2019) Global relative species loss due to first‐generation biofuel production for the transport sector. GCB Bioenergy
- 2nd - ethanol/biodiesel from non-food crops e.g. wood, wastes, biomass-only crops direct replacement for petrol based fuels (low scale) - 3rd - novel (e.g. algae) and genetic-engineering for improved food- and non-food feed-stocks (some way off) - 4th - no dependency on agricultural land, these approaches use synthetic biological organisms (long way off)
Currently: - No Generation couples energy and protein production - 1st generation biofuel appears as the current dominant type
26 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute General contact information Website: www.true-project.eu Email: [email protected] Facebook/Twitter: @TrueLegumes
The James Hutton Institute is supported by Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services (RESAS), a division of the Scottish Government
TRUE is funded by the European Union’s Horizon2020 Research and Innovation Programme Grant Agreement Number 727973
27 Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute