2010/01/01 by Gérard Duc, Duc, Gérard, Catherine Mignolet +3
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Agriculture and Rural Development Research #VALEUR NUTRITIONNELLE
paper · doi:10.17180/1abm-8q30
openalex publication_date 2010/01/01 · openalex created_date 2020/06/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
Forage and grain legumes played a key role in history of agriculture. Since the 1950s, the joint effect of animal production intensification (helped by massive import of soybean by Europe), and of the political support of Europe to cereals and oil seed crops (helped by a massive industry of nitrogen fertilizers which uses fossil energy) have reduced the contribution of legumes in European and French agricultures. New socio-economic demands now increase for (i) sustainable crop and animal production systems, taking into account inputs costs and environmental impacts, and (ii) for a traceability and food and feed security. The new context is favourable to an increase of forage and grain legumes acreage because of their ability to symbiotically fix dinitrogen with Rhizobium bacteria, of their favourable insertion in sustainable cropping systems and of their high nutritional value for animals and humans. This take-off which contribute to a higher autonomy of EU for protein resources, requires a strong coordination of different stakeholders, including research, seed and processing industries, policy-makers and society.