The Bean YEN: Understanding bean yield variation on UK farms

Abstract

Field beans (Vicia faba L.) are the most extensively grown grain legume in the UK but their contribution to farming and food systems could be improved if their yields were enhanced. Average on-farm bean yields have varied between 3 and 4 t ha À1 for four decades but with much variation between individual crops. A "Bean Yield Enhancement Network" (Bean YEN) was initiated in 2019, supported by industry sponsors, to promote crop monitoring, sampling, and sharing of data between farms, thus learning about key yield-affecting factors. Bean YEN continues, gathering new data annually; data from crops harvested in 2019 to 2021 are reported here. For each crop entered, data were collated on agronomy, soil, and weather, samples were analysed for height, nutrient content, yield components, and seed quality, and accurate yields were recorded. A localised biophysical yield potential (Y bp ) was also estimated based on the best (repeatedly observed) resource capture and conversion coefficients and harvest index for beans, after accounting for costs of nitrogen (N) fixation. Over the three seasons, yields were collated from 26 winter bean and 63 spring bean crops, all well dispersed across the British Isles, with sufficient supporting information to make 87 estimates of Y bp . Average winter bean yields were 5.1 t ha À1 (range 1-8 t ha À1 ) and spring bean yields were 4.9 t ha À1 (range 1-7 t ha À1 ), respectively 38 and 43% of Y bp (13.7 & 11.2 t ha À1 ); yield shortfalls from Y bp averaged 7.2 t ha À1 (range 2.4-12.6 t ha À1 ). Yields correlated positively with plant height, thousand seed weight, total biomass shoot À1 , seeds pod À1 , harvest index and total straw biomass (t ha À1 ) in both winter and spring crops. In spring crops, the number of pods shoot À1 was also positively correlated with yield. Correlations suggested that growers could enhance yields by favouring an ideotype with deep roots, tall, multi-noded stems, and prolonged canopy survival. This ideotype will be subject to modification and improvement after data are collected through future seasons of Bean YEN. The accumulating Bean YEN dataset is enabling benchmarks to be derived for crop attributes that should guide growers in their quest for sustained yield enhancements.

Recent progress and potential future directions to enhance biological nitrogen fixation in faba bean (Vicia faba L.)

“…This decline in area sown partly reflects the global shift in farming practices in the latter half of the 20th century from legume rotations as a source of N to crops which are dependent on synthetic N fertilizers. Moreover, as for the majority of legume crops, the low yields of faba beans are considered a major deterrent to farmers to incorporate the crop into their rotations more widely (White et al., 2022 ). However, it is hoped that higher crop yields will encourage farmers to cultivate faba beans more frequently.…”

Low water supply differentially affects the growth, yield and mineral profile of kabuli and desi chickpeas (Cicer arietinum)

“…They also play a crucial role in agriculture and the environment as they form a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria, reducing atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogenated compounds like ammonia (Roy et al, 2020). This helps to promote plant growth and soil fertility and reduces the reliance on nitrogen‐based fertilisers, which are a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture (Barbieri et al, 2023; Iannetta et al, 2016; White et al, 2022). As such, legumes can be a valuable crop in sustainable agriculture as a cash crop, cover crop or intercropped with other species, including in agroforestry cultivation (Barbieri et al, 2023).…”