Translating knowledge for legume-based farming for food and feed (Legumes Translated)

Legumes Translated is a new thematic network in Horizon 2020. It supports the Agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP Agri) by linking research- and practice-based knowledge to support legume cropping and use. It is therefore in line with the recently announced European Protein Plan (European Commission 2018) that mentions a knowledge platform for protein crops. The overall goal is to support the production and use of grain legume crops in Europe as part of an overall change in protein sourcing and use (Donau Soja, 2017). The challenges that legumes crops can help address are well-documented: the need for more diversity in cropping with more crops that support pollinators; yield stagnation in cereal-dominated systems (e.g. Brisson et al., 2010; Watson et al., 2017); and a 29% deficit in tradable plant protein that is met by about 35 million tonnes of soybean equivalent imported from the Americas (Murphy-Bokern et al., 2017). This is a fundamental challenge to the resilience, acceptance and performance of our agri-food systems. There are indications that Europe is now on the cusp of a significant change manifest in the positive political response to the Donau Soja European Soya Declaration and the European Commission’s work on Europe’s protein balance. Thematic networks are a key element of the EIP Agri. funded from Horizon 2020. They complement both operational groups and Horizon 2020 research and innovation projects by compiling and validating existing knowledge and best practices and providing wider access to this knowledge with particular emphasis on trans-national border knowledge interaction. Legumes Translated has three underlying principles: empowerment of innovators through understanding; practice- and research-based sources of knowledge are mutually supportive; and cropping and farming system innovation must go hand-in-hand with corresponding value chain developments (especially in livestock)