New interest in grain legumes in Finland
2008
Stoddard, F.L., University of Helsinki, Helsinki (Finland). Department of Applied Biology
After many years of decline in Finland and other Nordic and Baltic countries, interest in grain legumes in Finland is undergoing resurgence. High fertilizer costs, here as elsewhere, are focusing farmer attention on biological nitrogen fixation. High costs of soybean meal for animal feed are causing feed manufactures to look for alternatives. Positive drivers include recently released research showing that pigs fed rations containing a substantial proportion of faba beans produced better quality pork meat than those fed on rapeseed meal or soybean meal. As a result, one major manufacturer of animal feed has expressed an interest in contract growing substantial areas of faba bean in Finland for use in pig feed. Another feed manufacturer has quality requirements that closely match lupin grain for ruminant feed. Earliness is a key factor in grain legume adaption to the Nordic region. Seasons are short and relatively cool. Novel ways of achieving earliness, such as the terminal-inflorescence mutation of faba bean, may have more application here than they have achieved elsewhere. We plan cooperative field trials to further demonstrate the possibilities of grain legumes as a new crop, while also researching mechanisms of enhanced adaptation and stress resistance.
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