EUROLEGUME - Newsletter July 2017

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EUROLEGUME News December 2017

Welcome to EUROLEGUME news!

The EUROLEGUME project has come to an end. We are very happy with the active participation of all partners. Together, we have achieved very significant results that clearly contribute to the scientific development of this field. This is visible in the high number of scientific publications that have been produced and the great level of interaction with stakeholders. Our work has led to a strong interest in the commercialisation of the products achieved in the project, and even paved the way for the launch of a start-up company in the field. These are great examples of the innovation we’ve achieved.”.
Thank you to all partners for their commitment and to all stakeholders for their involvement in making this such a successful project.

Eduardo Rosa, Project Coordinator (UTAD – Vila Real | Portugal)

EUROLEGUME featured in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

The 13th edition of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture includes 14 articles of EUROLEGUME's scientific research in its 'In Focus' section.

Four new EUROLEGUME PhDs

In recent months, four new successful PhD theses were defended. Liene Strauta and Asnate Kirse, from LLU, Marina Martos-Fuentes, from Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPTC), and Jiangsan Zhao from the University for Agriculture and Forestry of Vienna. A big congratulation to these graduates and EUROLEGUME partners for their supervisory efforts.

EUROLEGUME partners awarded by the Latvian Academy of Sciences

The team led by Sandra Muizniece-Brasava (from LLU) was awarded by the Latvian Academy of Sciences having developed one of the most significant research works in Latvia, in 2017. They developed an innovative protein and fiber-rich foods from legumes grown in Latvia. The team included Dr. Asnate Kirse, Dr. Liene Strauta, Dr. Ruta Galaburda, Daina Karklina and Evija Puiskina.

Read our EUROLEGUME scientific publications

With a total of 44 publications (35 peer-reviewed articles; 6 proceedings of conferences and workshops and 3 scientific papers), the Data and Scientific Publications section is now filled with a wide range of documents that address multiple areas of the legumes. The section intends to compile all the available information on legumes.

Read our EUROLEGUME leaflets that provide short summaries on important legume topics

A total of seven leaflets were prepared to provide information of multiple topics. The leaflets address briefly important subjects such as cowpea cultivation and its importance for the human diet, new ways of cooking peas and faba seeds and the characterization of native rhizobial strains in Greece and Latvia

Watch our EUROLEGUME videos

EUROLEGUME has developed a number of videos related to the outputs of the project. In addition to our general project video, you can also see what impact and value EUROLEGUME has for consumers, farmers and the industry.

EVENTS

EUROLEGUME and LEGATO successfully organise the “International Conference in Grain Legume Cultivation and Use”

EUROLEGUME and LEGATO successfully organised the International Conference in Grain Legume Cultivation and Use on September 27-28, 2018. Over two days, the Conference held various sessions, key note speakers (involving various international experts), oral and poster presentations, as well as a show cooking session.

Details >

EUROLEGUME organises "Legumes from field to fork – a Nordic-Baltic perspective on production, development and marketing of legumes" Conference

EUROLEGUME successfully organised last 28-30 November 2017 the conference on "Legumes from field to fork – a Nordic-Baltic perspective on production, development and marketing of legumes". The conference was held in Tartu, Estonia and gathered experts from multiple fields of legume research.

Details >

EUROLEGUME and LEGATO successfully organise the “Advances in Breeding and Agronomy for Improving Sustainability and Quality of Grain Legume Crops”

The EUROLEGUME and LEGATO projects recently joined forces in the organisation of the course “Advances in Breeding and Agronomy for Improving Sustainability and Quality of Grain Legume Crops”. A total of 25 participants joined at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ-CIHEAM) in Zaragoza (Spain).

RECENT EUROLEGUME DELIVERABLES

Elaborated growing technologies for sustainable use of legumes in different cropping systems

This deliverable explored elaborated growing technologies for the sustainable use of legumes in different cropping systems. Site specific adaptation was found in all trials, especially for the faba beans, where the varieties that perform best in the North do not always perform well in the south and vice-versa. For example, the faba bean variety 'Aguadulce', which showed the best performance in southern locations, did not result in a dry grain yield in the northern countries (i.e. Latvia and Estonia). This is not the case for peas. For example, the cultivar 'Onward' performed well both in southern and northern countries (i.e. Norway).

Molecular analysis of faba bean, pea and cowpea.

For the faba bean and peas a simple protocol was developed based on sample barcoding allowing the genotyping of plant material based on a minimum number of Next-Generation-Sequencing reads. The genetic structure of 72 cultivars of Vicia faba and Pisum sativum from Spain, Portugal, Estonia and Latvia was determined and 43 primer sets for P. sativum and 59 primer sets for V. faba were used. The cowpea study aim was to evaluate genetic diversity and structure of a set of Iberian Peninsula cowpea accessions in comparison to worldwide cowpea material.

Unique collection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)

The AMF collected originated in field sites with legume cropping history from different European countries and soil/climate conditions (Greece, Portugal, Latvia, and Estonia). Based on the molecular tools, EUROLEGUME’s team managed to identify several AMF strains including Claroideoglomus lamellosum, C. claroideum, F. mosseae and R. irregularis, which were tested in the final pot / field trials. The selected AMF strains are being mass produced for further commercial use.

Sowing density influence on yield and protein content in faba bean under Baltic agro-climatic conditions

Adaptation of a crop to particular environments depends upon its efficiency to use available resources and to produce biomass. In many cases, it is determined by genotype, but plant density has direct influence on the main environmental factors influencing plant growth and yield formation – light distribution in the canopy, water and nutrient availability for each plant, microenvironment in the canopy which influences disease and pest development. From the results obtained, there was not found significant influence of sowing density on the yield and protein content in dry seeds in Baltic agro-climatic conditions with limited moisture availability during some periods of vegetation.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 613781.

Photo credits:

Tempeh by FotoMediamatic - CC BY-SA 2.0; Vigna unguiculata nodules2 by Harry Rose - CC BY 2.0; Novi Sad, Serbie by Eric Paradis - CC BY 2.0;

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