Event
Full of beans! Integrating dried beans into your crop rotation
Organic Research Centre event – part of Countryside COP, bringing together the rural community and businesses to showcase and inspire activity ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 – 22 November 2024.
Summary: YouTube Video of event from The Organic Growers Gathering 2024, 27th September 2024
This session explores the potential and challenges of integrating more dried beans into arable and horticultural crop rotations. Chaired by Dr. Julia Cooper ORC.
The panel of speakers:
1. Isabel Mackintosh to discuss ORC’s LiveBean project where different individual varieties and mixtures of field beans have been trialled under organic management on a network of farms. Potential to optimise variety choice and mixes and challenges managing weeds will be discussed.
2. Dr. Imelda Uwase from Reading University will speak about the Leguminose project; benefits of intercropping beans into cereal systems and potential for similar approaches on a smaller scale i.e. in horticultural systems
3. Nick Saltmarsh from Hodmedods on markets for dried beans and the potential to extend our thinking on types of dried beans to “rare” beans as per recent Hodmedod recent campaigns.
The session includes an open discussion after the speakers to share experiences and challenges of integrating beans into arable and horticultural systems in a UK context.
Benefits of cereal-legume mixtures on soil biology
- Intercropping involves growing two crops together in the same field at the same time. Intercropping can enhance nutrient use efficiency, biodiversity, maximise productivity and optimise nutrient cycling in agroecosystems.
- The Legume-cereal intercropping for sustainable agriculture across Europe (LEGUMONISE) project aims to reduce the barriers to intercropping legumes and cereals by conducting applied scientific research. LEGUMINOSE involves researchers and farmers across 8 European countries, Pakistan and the UK (at the University of Reading and Soil Association). A dozen on-farm trials have been established across the UK and new intercropping research trials have been set up at the University of Reading since autumn 2023. LEGUMINOSE aims to determine whether cereal-legume intercropping could reduce pesticide use by suppressing pests and pathogens while also enhancing beneficial organisms. In addition, this project investigates the potential of legume-cereal intercropping to improve soil fertility, reduce emissions, and increase the yield of the main crop.
- Benefits of cereal-legume mixtures on soil biology
Dr Imelda Uwase, University of Reading PhD research showed that cereal-legume intercropping enhances the activity of the active component of the soil microbial community. Intercropping increases microbial use of root-derived carbon over soil organic matter. As a result, intercropping generally slows soil organic matter decomposition compared to monocrops. While intercropping had no significant effect on the efficiency by which soil microbes use carbon sources to build biomass, it increased the ability of microbes to utilise different carbon and nitrogen sources. Intercropping has mixed effects on enzyme activities related to nutrient acquisition. Overall, the results suggest that intercropping can improve key soil microbial processes that regulate soil carbon storage and nutrient availability. However, we need more research to fully understand the potential benefits of cereal-legume intercropping on soil health in the face of the ongoing biodiversity loss and climate change.
Speakers: Chair: Dr. Julia Cooper (ORC), Speakers: Isabel Mackintosh (ORC), Dr. Imelda Uwase (Reading University), Nick Saltmarsh (Hodmedods)
Now in its fourth year, Countryside COP provides a platform for anyone interested in the countryside to hear how the UK’s rural economy and agriculture can help tackle climate change and improve sustainability.
The Countryside COP allows the rural community and UK agriculture to set the agenda and will serve to amplify policy asks and other messaging through many voices.
For more information on Countryside COP 2024 events, go to https://agricology.co.uk/research-projects/countryside-cop4-04-08-november-2024/
