AN initiative hoping to boost UK production or a potato companion crop by determining a definitive best practice has been launched.
Beans, like all legumes, are good companion crops for potatoes. They help to add nitrogen to the soil – their ability to fix their own nitrogen while also leaving it in the soil for the potato crop is well documented. They can also help trap aphids and deter weeds with their dense growth above and below the ground.
However, uptake of growing beans has long been curtailed by the perception that they’re unreliable, despite the multiple benefits they provide.
The Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO)’s Chief Executive Roger Vickers said: “While there are scientific publications that clearly demonstrate across north-west Europe that beans are no more unreliable than other spring sown crops, the perception is real and impactful. The current recommendations in RB209 have not changed in decades and it is not at all clear from where the recommendations originated. Seeing this as a possible weakness in the agronomic approach to bean cropping, we are embarking on a study that aims to establish new best practices and recommendations.”
A new project called ANSWERS, or ‘Alleviating Nutritional Stress for Wider Environmental Rewards in Sustainable UK protein crop production’, will bring together PGRO, NPZ (LSPB), Yara, and the University of Lincoln, alongside real field-scale trials, to develop practical nutrient plans to enhance nodule activity and nitrogen fixation, productivity, yield stability, protein content and climate resilience.
“The goal is to optimise the on-farm yield and quality of faba bean as an alternative UK-produced protein source, to directly influence significant improvement in productivity, sustainability, the environmental impact of farming, progression towards net zero emissions and help create resilient food supply chains,” said Roger.
The project will build upon recent studies undertaken by PGRO, Yara and the Bean YEN network which revealed that poorly-understood nutrient requirements are a key barrier to increasing production. After collecting data from 318 farms, Yara found that substantial proportions of faba beans are deficient in potassium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum and boron. These nutrient deficiencies impair nodule activity, nitrogen fixation and plant resilience to environments.
“Despite their indisputable benefits, only 3.8% of UK arable land is currently used for field bean production,” Roger said. “The low area of pulses reflects variable yields (mean 5.1t/ha, range 1-8t/ha) and low gross margins in some years, but potential yield has been shown to be much higher – as much as 13.7t/ha in field beans. In 2024 we saw some UK farms achieving over 9t/ha.
“There is significant potential to increase area, which would help to replace imported soya in animal feeds and reduce the carbon footprint of animal production systems.”
ANSWERS is funded under the Defra Farming Innovation Programme Small R&D Partnership Projects competition and will run for three years.
