Boosting production of plant-based protein in Europe as part of sustainable diets is an indisputable if sometimes contentious way to reduce carbon emissions in the agricultural sector.
“Many people are looking for more variety in their diets for health, financial and ideological reasons,” says Maeve Henchion from the department of agrifood business in Teagasc.
Some farmers are also looking for more sustainable crops to grow, while policymakers are conscious of the need to feed growing populations while simultaneously reducing the environmental impacts of food production and consumption.
Growing more high-protein crops such as lentils, chickpeas, fava beans and lupins in Europe for both human consumption and animal feed also enhances our food security by reducing our reliance on imported plant proteins.
Legumes (the generic name for these plant protein crops) also offer environmental benefits such as the ability to fix nitrogen from the air thus reducing the need for chemical fertilisers as well as improving soil texture and increasing insect populations drawn to these crops when in flower.
We are growing about 20,000 hectares of fava beans in Ireland at the moment and we have the potential to grow about 50,000 hectares
Aware of all these positives, researchers across Europe have joined forces to encourage farmers to grow more high-protein crops. The ultimate aim is to set up processing facilities for these legumes close to farms to enhance regional development while providing ingredients for plant-protein-based products made in Europe.
Dr Ewen Mullins is the head of the crop science department at Teagasc Oak Park in Co Carlow and lead researcher on the Valpro Path project, a four-year-long study of how plant-based protein production can be scalable, economically viable and sustainable across Europe.
“We are growing about 20,000 hectares of fava beans in Ireland at the moment and we have the potential to grow about 50,000 hectares,” says Mullins.
Charles Smyth is one of the tillage farmers who is growing beans on his farm. “I grow a range of crops from winter wheat to spring barley, oats, beans and oil seed rape,” he says. “I was first interested in fava beans for their benefits as a rotational crop. But now they can stand as a crop on their own and we get a protein payment for growing beans.”
Smyth says fava beans aren’t particularly difficult to grow and if you get the right weather conditions, yields can be good. “They are another option for farmers. Currently, I grow beans every four years or so between wheat and barley crops.”
Under the Department of Agriculture’s protein aid scheme, farmers are paid a subsidy for each hectare of peas, beans, lupins and legume/cereal mixes grown.
These high-protein crops, which are best suited to heavier soils, are grown in spring and harvested in autumn, so the farmer can then plant winter wheat in the same field.
“Because fava beans can fix nitrogen from the air, it reduces the need for chemical fertilisers,” says Mullins. “And there are residual amounts of nitrogen that remain in the soil so that the winter wheat gets an extra bounce.”
He contends farmers need to get higher values from these crops in the future to encourage them to grow more of them. Currently, much of the crop is used for animal feed, but Mullins and others see a market for human consumption too.
“Plant-derived protein is a high-value ingredient for the food industry but is not yet sourced from Irish protein crops,” he says.
His colleague Dr Richard Lynch suggests the ingredients that can be obtained from locally grown protein crops range from legume flours (such as pea or bean flour) to concentrated protein powders.
“Legume flours can be directly used in baking and cooking to produce gluten-free high protein alternatives for breads, confectionery goods and pasta,” says Lynch.
He also suggests there is a local market for protein concentrates in the production of drinks, spreads, yoghurts, cheese, hybrid or full plant-based meat alternatives. Kerry Group is one of the partners on the Valpro path project.
At the national tillage conference in January, Eimear Gallagher of Teagasc Research Centre in Ashtown, Co Dublin, spoke about how new high-protein bread and cereals could be made from fava beans grown in Ireland.
In an innovative growing technique, some trials are also under way in Ireland intercropping peas with fava beans. The strong stems of the pea plants provide a scaffolding for the fava beans, preventing the fava bean crop from lodging in the field. Growing the two crops together also results in yields of both crops for protein extraction and flour milling.
However, to encourage more farmers to grow these high-protein crops, processing plants would need to be developed locally to supply these food ingredients directly to food companies in Ireland. “There are hundreds of products from sports bars and drinks made in Ireland but the plant protein ingredients are currently not sourced here,” Mullins adds.
The Valpro research, which is a Horizons Europe project co-funded by the European Union, is looking at how processing plants for these crops could be built close to where the plants are grown. Such facilities already exist in Germany and Croatia.
And while Irish farmers are trialling different varieties of fava beans and lupins, farmers in Italy and Denmark are trialling lentils and chickpeas, and Portuguese farmers are growing peanuts.
“We did try to grow lentils and chickpeas here too but the yield wouldn’t be as good as it is in Italy and Denmark because it’s not as warm and there aren’t as many sunny days here,” says Mullins. Ireland does, however, has one of the highest yields of fava beans in Europe.
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With a focus on economic, social and environmental sustainability of European farmers growing more of these high-protein crops, the Valpro Path study is also keen to capture data on the greenhouse gas emissions and carbon capture over the life cycle of the food products derived from these crops.
Researchers are doing emissions and nutrient profiling for different varieties selected for optimum growth in different regions. Further research into breeding programmes will also be needed to address the current shortage in registered seed varieties adapted to diverse climates for farmers in Europe.
And when it comes to increasing human consumption of plant proteins, there has been some pushback on plant protein food products with surveys finding that some consumers don’t opt for them because they don’t meet their expectations of taste, texture or flavour.
Cognisant of this pushback, researchers on the Valpro Path project and other international research studies suggest wider policies to improve consumer awareness on the environmental impact of different food production systems may also be needed before protein crops become a viable crop to grow at scale for Irish and European farmers.
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