• Background

  There is an increasing demand for plant-based food products which are in accordance with dietary recommendations and reduce environmental footprints. Import of plant-based high-protein products, such as soy or pulses raw materials, as well as their protein concentrates, has increased and it is both likely and advantageous that this plant protein trend intensifies in the coming years. We experience a market demand for domestic produce of grain legumes from the food industry as well as retailers and consumers. The feed industry is searching for domestic protein sources to reduce the reliance on imported protein such as soy and rapeseed pellets used as feedstock. Domestic produce of grain legumes, such as faba beans with high protein content, are a relevant alternative. An increased production of grain legumes will, through a more diverse cropping system and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), improve soil fertility levels, lower disease pressure, and reduce the use of pesticides, thereby improving cereal yields and quality compared to mono-cereal rotations that are the prevalent alternative. Production of peas and faba beans in Norway are among those with the lowest environmental footprints, with low scores on most of the indicators evaluated in a Life Cycle Analyses (LCA).

  There is potential to increase the area of grain legumes in Norway based on the existing varieties of peas (Pisum sativum L.) and faba bean(Vicia faba L.). A further production increase can be enabled with improved varieties and managements. This project will focus on faba beans in particular, and, to a lesser extent, field peas, to solve bottlenecks early in the supply chain. Improved and climate-adapted varieties and improved cultivation management are needed to meet requirements from the food and feed industry for high quality raw materials at competitive commodity prices. We consider the potential production volume as large enough to take actions to develop a Norwegian production of grain legumes of a significant volume, giving stable deliveries across seasons. We find the time appropriate to do so, to take advantage of the opportunities described above.

• Aim

  The project aims to provide necessary knowledge, materials and tools for 1) future efficient breeding of grain legumes adapted to Norwegian conditions, and 2) solutions to main cultivation challenges to increase the production of grain legumes in Norway with good quality for food and feed. This shall lay the foundation for a grain legume production in Norway of stable and market-adapted volumes, enabling the agriculture industry to respond to growing opportunities

• Objectives

  • Development management strategies to increase yield and improve quality for food and feed
  • Generate knowledge necessary to facilitate integrated pest management strategies 
  • Identify and characterize promising accessions and international varieties that can serve as a starting point for faba bean and peas national variety development
  • Identify quality criteria to be established for food and feed of the Norwegian produce
  • Develop strategies for the market-adapted Norwegian production of grain legumes

Project coordinator

Eksternal participants

• NIBIO
• NOFIMA
• Graminor AS
• Felleskjøpet Agri
• Norgesfôr
• University of Saskatchewan, Canada
• University of Helsinki, Finland
• LUKE, Finland
• Nordic Seed, Denmark
• NorGen