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Pietro Iannetta, James Hutton Institute the James Hutton Institute 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 %
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