LEGUMINOSE logo

Sustainable agriculture through legume-cereal intercropping.  The LEGUMINOSE project will provide science-based, farmer-led, and economically viable systems and techniques for legume-based intercropping.

In the UK the Farm Living Labs will be run as an Innovative Farmers field lab [https://www.innovativefarmers.org/]. We are looking for 20 farms to take part in trials looking at yield and soil health benefits of intercrops from a range of crop mixes in organic, conventional and regenerative systems as well as in different locations across the UK. If you are interested contact Jerry [email protected]

We'd also love to hear from farmers about their experiences of intercropping, or what prevents them from practicing it! Please help the project by completing this anonymous questionnaire (it takes about 15 minutes). Thankyou.

 

For more information see: website: https://www.leguminose.eu/

twitter: @Leguminose_EU

contact info: https://www.leguminose.eu/contact/

This work has received funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee [grant numbers 10057156 and 10039837] to the Soil Association and the University of Reading.                  

 

The world population recently reached 8 billion people. By 2050, this number will further increase to 10 billion. To feed the raising global population, food production must increase by 60%. Current agriculture practices, however, are jeopardizing this goal: Intensive use of fertilizers and continuous monocropping destroy soils and natural ecosystems and produce high levels of greenhouse gases.

Intercropping is an ancient agricultural technique where two or more plant species are grown simultaneously in the same field. This method of farming can increase crop yields by up to 20% and improve soil health. The latter can reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers by up to 50%. Intercropping can also increase biodiversity, which increases the resilience of agricultural systems to climate change.

Overall, intercropping provides a sustainable and efficient way to produce food, as it increases the productivity of land while reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers. Intercropping: from niche to mainstream.

Despite its environmental and economic benefits, intercropping is still a niche practice in the EU: Only 2% of European arable land is used for legume-cereal intercropping.

LEGUMINOSE [https://www.leguminose.eu/] wants to change that by transforming legume-cereal intercropping from a niche practice to a mainstream method.

Objectives

The goal of the LEGUMINOSE project is to establish intercropping as a climate-smart farming practice. For this, the project will

  • investigate the benefits of intercropping beyond the well-studied effects on nitrogen dynamics,
  • identify the obstacles to adoption of intercropping, and
  • provide farmers across the EU with accessible, actionable and science-based information for a profitable and sustainable agricultural transformation.

Methods

The project aims to increase the uptake of intercropping by assessing its potential through data collection from 6 research fields across Europe. At the same time, we will demonstrate intercropping and provide a forum to discuss and overcome barriers by establishing 180 on-farm Living Labs in different pedo-climatic zones across Europe (IT, DE, DK, ES, PL, CZ, UK), Egypt, and Pakistan.

In the UK the Farm Living Labs will be run as an Innovative Farmers field lab [https://www.innovativefarmers.org/]. We are looking for 20 farms to take part in trials looking at yield and soil health benefits of intercrops from a range of crop mixes in organic, conventional and regenerative systems as well as in different locations across the UK.

More about the project

This project is funded by Horizon Europe. UK funding is provided by UKRI. The project brings together a partnership of 17 organizations from around Europe. UK partners are Reading University and Soil Association.

The project brings together a partnership of 17 organizations from around Europe. UK partners are Reading University and Soil Association.

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE (UNIFI)

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS M.P. (CSIC)

INSTYTUT AGROFIZYKI POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK (IAPAS)

GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ UNIVERSITAET HANNOVER (LUH)

UNIVERSITAET FUER BODENKULTUR WIEN (BOKU)

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN (TUW)

EUROPEAN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION INSTITUTE GGMBH (ESCI)

DEUTSCHE SAATVEREDELUNG AG (DSV)

UNIÓN DE PEQUEÑOS AGRICULTORES Y GANADEROS (UPA)

IFAU APS (IFAU) AGRITEC PLANT RESEARCH S.R.O. (APR)

AARHUS UNIVERSITET (AU)

FARM EUROPE AISBL (FE)

CONFEDERAZIONE ITALIANA AGRICOLTORI TOSCANA (CIA)

GOVERNMENT COLLEGE UNIVERSITY FAISALABAD (GCUF)

UNIVERSTIY OF READING (ASSOCIATE PARTNER) (UREAD)

SOIL ASSOCIATION (ASSOCIATE PARTNER) (SA)

 

Related Organisations

Connected Content

Innovative Farmers was established in 2012 by the Soil Association with the aim of bringing scientific rigour to on-farm trials co-designed by farmers and researchers. With a focus on sustainability and resilience, groups come together on discrete topics and on-farm trials addressing the topics that matter to them.

The Farming and Land Use Team at the Soil Association have a specialist knowledge of all UK agricultural sectors as well as in depth understanding of organic and agroecological food production systems. Our goal is to support organic and non-organic farmers alike to transition towards more sustainable practices.

Intercropping is a method of planting two or more crops in close proximity to each other, either in alternate rows or in the same row. The goal of intercropping is to maximize the use of available space and resources, such as sunlight, water, and nutrients. It can also help to improve soil health and increase crop diversity, which can provide a range of benefits including increased resistance to pests and diseases, and a longer harvest season.

Legume is the commonly used name for the family of flowering plants, Fabaceae. Any plant in the Fabaceae family that has leaves, stems and pods are referred to as a Legume.

Innovative Farmers, as part of their involvement in the Horizon Europe LEGUMINOSE project we will be setting up trials with Reading University to look at the benefits of intercropping in arable rotations.