Pulses: Innovations from the field to the cooking pot
To promote the important role of pulses, the International Year of Pulses (IYP2016) has carried out activities on a national, regional and global scale to help raise awareness on the benefits of pulses for food security, nutrition, soils and sustainable agriculture, and their contribution to climate change mitigation.
FAO has recently published a series of fact sheets providing an overview of the positive features of pulses from a global perspective, which can be accessed on the International Year of Pulses website (available at http://www.fao.org/pulses-2016/communications-toolkit/fact-sheets/en).
Although many benefits of pulses have been identified in different fields of research related to agriculture, health, nutrition, and environmental sciences, their full potential still remains untapped among producers and consumers.
Participants in the earlier online discussion (www.fao.org/fsnforum/activities/discussions/pulses) pointed out the decreasing consumption trends in some areas where pulses are part of traditional meals but carry a stigma of being a “poor person’s food”, and are then replaced by meat once people can afford it. In this context, innovation in both preparation methods (including cooking time) and in recipes and the way pulses are presented can play a role in reversing this trend.
On the production side, the earlier online discussion brought up the following issues: competition with cereals, which have traditionally received the most policy attention; low yields; low market value; lack of knowledge on the part of farmers on how to improve productivity; and limited access to quality inputs. Further, it was highlighted that often the production of pulses in developing countries is done in marginal areas and by marginalized groups.
With the conclusion of IPY2016 approaching, and building on the earlier FSN Forum discussion, we would like to invite you to look ahead and explore innovations that may help address some of the challenges still facing these important crops.
- What can be done concretely to increase the consumption of pulses? How can we introduce them into the diets of countries where they aren’t traditionally consumed, and also encourage their continued consumption in those countries where pulses are already part of the diet?
- Cultivating pulses in multiple cropping systems enriches agrobiodiversity, increases resilience to climate change, and improves ecosystem services. Do modern varieties of legumes provide smallholder farmers with an attractive alternative to other crops? What are the roles that legumes can play in sustainable intensification of agriculture in Africa?
- What is needed to strengthen pulse value chains, from input supply to consumption? What is the situation in your country?
- Do you know any examples of countries mainstreaming pulses into national and regional food security policies? Do you think that a policy approach could be beneficial to increasing the role of this crop?
We also invite you to keep sharing your recipes of pulse dishes – we published a few in our summary – and to check out other recipes on the International Year of Pulses website.
The outcomes of this consultation are important for the legacy of the International Year of Pulses; they will help to gain a better understanding on how to move forward and identify possible next steps to take once IYP2016 is over.
We thank you very much for your time and look forward to your comments.
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Throughout the world, production trends give an indication of what comprises the consumption basket of a country. India produces about 19 million tonnes of pulses and has to import around 4 million tonnes to meet the demand deficit in 2014. Yet, we just about met the daily requirement of 40 grams per day starting 2011.
A few states in India such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh provide pulses in the Public Distribution System (PDS) to promote a balanced food consumption basket. However, for a majority of states, pulse distribution through the PDS still remain s a challenge. In the PDS, the poor households are provided essential food items at subsidised prices. This is important because pulse prices are very volatile in India primarily due to a late announcement of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), thereby not providing an incentive for increase in their production. On the other hand, once imports also reach the market, prices start to fall.
In order to increase the consumption of pulses, it is important as mentioned earlier in this discussion to increase awareness about the nutritional benefits of pulses. Till date, they are referred to as poor man's meat and along with millets as orphan crops. In India where almost half the population is vegetarian, increasing the consumption of pulses in the diet is extremely important to fight micronutrient deficiency. Pulses can be cooked in innovative ways such as a pulse patty or a pulse burger which might seem tastier for children and young adults. Production of pulses should also be encouraged by timely announcement of the MSP and proper procurement procedure. This will help the country meet the minimum daily requirement of pulses in the diet.
Dr. Ebrahim Eldeeb
Michelle O. Fried
Rather than the customary overnight soak, a one hour soak is an effective tool to increase the consumption of pulses in countries south of the equator. Perhaps in northern countries such a technique is not effective, but in countries where the majority of the population cooks from scratch what they eat and easily spends over an hour in cooking the main meal, diminishing the soaking time and thus the necessity to remember to put the pulses on to soak the night before, presents a viable option to the cook. In my work in WFP in school feeding programs, once the community members learned to soak pulses for one hour in water in which they had boiled for merely two minutes, pulse consumption increased significantly.
USAID´s and US universities are justified in their reservation to promote pulse consumption through the one hour soak technique WHEN THINKING OF THE US POPULATION. However, when considering the world´s population who can benefit through increased pulse consumption, the one hour soak technique can be a very effective tool. It requires no additional research time. All that is necessary are communication campaigns.
Here is a best in class example for increasing consumption of pulses. It is based on educating influencers who are reaching consumers to help change their dietary behavior.
In October, the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo ( FNCE), in Boston USA, was attended by over 10K nutrition professionals. It featured a successful representation of Pulses through a robust communication platform. This conference provided the knowledge and clarity to the term 'pulses' and defined their role in a healthy diet through exhibits, scientific sessions and culinary demonstrations. This influential group of registered dietitians , will now be able to make specific dietary recommendations, including pulses for healthier eating.
Now they have the most updated science on pulses as a protein source, how to be creative in preparing tasty menus through culinary arts and the facts of the many nutrition benefits, we can expect to see pulses in social media and consumer targeted publications.
Registered dietitians are educating other proefessionals who are inlfuencing consumers. Let's do more of these events to make sure pulses is a common household food.
Dear Sieg,
You raise a very important point, one which FAO has been focusing on since the beginning of the year. The International Year of Pulses has indeed brought to light some shortcomings of global statistics on pulses. We are now in the final stages of preparing a Global Pulses Economy report, and this issue is a recurrent theme in the publication. Legumes experts in FAO`s Plant Production and Protection Division and experts in the Statistics Division have also been working together continuously to improve the classifications of pulses since the beginning of the year, whereas a tremendous effort is also being made to improve the accuracy and timeliness of the data, which however also depend to a large extent on the quality of data supplied to FAO by countries themselves. Bear in mind that the data received from countries are annually solicited through our production questionnaire where in addition to production quantity data, and areas harvested, we also ask information on ‘availability’ for consumption (the commodity codes in our production questionnaires are CPC based, whereas the detailed trade data are HS based). Most gaps in our time-series are due to the limited provision of data from member countries, where, in any case, we attempt to fill the gaps in with expert estimations. FAO has just launched a new and improved version of the FAOSTAT Web Site, which is the primary instrument for the dissemination of global agricultural statistics, and we expect that improvements to the data on pulses to henceforth be incorporated on a more regular basis.
Dorian
Thank you everyone for great discussion and insightful comments. I would like to follow up on some of the issues raised in regards to pulse consumption levels. Since pulses are rich in nutrients and an eco-friendly source of dietary protein, we would expect them to be utilized to a greater extent. I agree with the point made by Sarah Najera that pulses need to modernize in order for consumers to adopt them, especially in regions where they are not a dietary staple. I would like to hear thoughts from others on how to approach this. In some cases updating the packaging and highlighting the nutrition label may go a long way. Adding pulses to new products also has the potential to increase consumption, especially if care is taken in regards to taste, convenience, and nutritional value of the products. Also, what about creating excitement around traditional recipes by reintroducing them in an updated way? I also would like to ask people’s opinions on what approaches should be used to increase consumption in places where pulses are a dietary staple but people are moving away from them for various reasons.
It is very encouraging reading the detailed commentary and action plans outlined here for promoting pulses. From Zimbabwe, Australia and Norway there is clearly tremendous commitment to how we can support greater investment in agricultural education and policies that support growing pulses, and in nutrition education to enhance the demand for pulses. I am interested in any experiences from members of this forum in terms of working with ministries of education, or ministries of nutrition and health, as novel means to support awareness of pulses, nutritional benefits and understanding of the wide range of environmental services that pulses provided.
As an agriculturists I am very interested to see ideas about expanding the range of pulse varieties so that farmers and consumers have more options. I have worked with some plant breeders who have been committed to releasing many different types of varieties that meet both local and market preferences for taste and other seed traits. This has been been my experience based in work with bean breeders, I have seen much less investment by public research institutions in other pulse breeders, such as pigeonpea breeding as only a few varieties have been released for African smallholder farmers. Beside bean breeding, which has included participatory approaches, molecular tools and long-term, sustained efforts on seed systems, is there other examples of pulse breeding efforts and agronomy that has expanded pulse production options, and supported widespread adoption? I would really like to see such examples highlighted.
Another area that requires more attention is agricultural statistics which are rather poor for pulses, including aggregated combinations of different bean species and inaccurate reflection of what is grown on the ground in many countries. How might we support greater attention to documenting legume species and varieties, and consumption, so that we know that agricultural statistics accurately reflect what pulses are grown, and where.
I am interested to hear of others experiences with legume statistics or documentation of impact from adoption of growing or eating more pulses
My purpose here is to outline a framework of action to increase the production and consumption of pulses. It leaves lacunae, into which one can fit specific actions suitable with respect to an area’s geography, climate and the food culture as well as the other area specific requirements. The high dietary value of pulses and its role in several food cultures are too well-known to be described.
Let me first look at some policy measures that could facilitate the achievement of our two-fold objective. I envisage here a raft of policies acting in harmony towards the same goal. But, before we undertake any suitable policy formulation and implementation, it is crucial to device an appropriate strategy to ensure that there will be little or no intra- or inter-policy disharmony among them.
Without this, our failure is certain, even if everything else needed for success is there. I believe we need to invite the ministers and their departmental heads of a country to agree at least not to make policies that will hinder us from achieving our objective, viz., increased production and consumption of pulses. Once we can be certain of this, and the information required for ascertaining the land area available to cultivation of pulses, species best suited for local conditions and food culture, and human and other material resources needed, one may consider the following policy options:
Agriculture policy:
- Appropriate institutional or on-the-job training on the cultivation of suitable pulses. It is important that modernization should not be capital-intensive as our purpose is not to increase the unemployment rate among the farming population.
- Mechanism to establish and expand sound agriculture extension services.
- Making seed of suitable species available to growers at affordable prices.
- Support growers of pulses to establish local cooperatives to carry out basic processing of their crops like husking etc., and selling it as a fair price.
Trade Policy:
- Restrictions on import/manufacture and sale of industrial food injurious to health and threatens the local food culture.
- Financial and/or other incentives to cafes and restaurants that serve certain minimal quantity of pulses-based food.
Education policy:
- Incorporation of compulsory health education into school curricula, where sound dietary habits could be taught. Consumption of pulses could be included here where it is appropriate.
- Practical examples of sound dietary habits may be taught at school as was demonstrated by EU programmed, “We Love Eating.”
- General public education on the merits of pulses accompanied by free recipes and food exhibitions. This educational effort may be a coordinated action by agriculture, health, trade and education ministries.
- School cafeterias and canteens ought to serve more pulse-based dishes.
Health policy:
- Medical profession and other relevant health personnel ought to be required to advise patients and public on the merit of local pulse dishes whenever dietary issues are discussed.
- Greater use of tasty pulse dishes served at meal times in state run hospitals.
Legal policy:
- Development of a benign tax law applicable to growers of pulses and caterers who base certain percentage of their food on pulses. Further, laws to prohibit imports deleterious to cultivation and use of pulses. The first suggestion here may be only of theoretical value in areas where tax collection remains an abstract notion.
Financial policy:
- No interest loans to those who wish to begin or extend growing of pulses, or pulse based catering.
Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but I think it provides a very clear holistic approach to our problem, which is flexible enough to accommodate actual conditions of a country or a region. What is important is not the comprehensiveness the policies considered, but selecting the most important ones and to strive for harmony within and among them.
Once we have come this far, we will have to design a suitable strategy to implement our policy. To facilitate the ease of its implementation, let us do it in two logically linked steps.
The first step:
Here, we will ascertain the following:
- Best deployment of the available instructors/field trainers/ and agro-supplies to the growers.
- Best areas where catering outlets may profitably expand their use of pulses.
- Best practical methods of incorporating pulses in hospital diets, civil service and school cafeterias.
- Types of most effective publicity campaigns which may include exhibitions, recipe competitions, etc.
- Best way of targeting concrete incentives like tax rebates, zero interest financing, etc.
- Agricultural research to improve pulses without gene modification and does not require capital-intensive methods to increase their yield.
- What concrete support ought to be given to pulse growers to enable them to establish cooperatives to process and sell their produce to retailers, caterers and even end-users at a fair price.
- What basic improvements in infra-structure would have the most significant effect on pulse production?
Once again, the above list is not exhaustive. One may add the strategic considerations pertinent to one’s area into it, or remove what is superfluous from it.
Once this step is undertaken, we can move on to the next stage of policy implementation, viz., doing it on the field. Here, not all the people needed to carry out the 8 steps above are required to participate in the actual growing of the crops. Their purpose is to publicize the benefits available to pulse growers, provide the relevant technical support, and serve as a source of seed, agricultural information, equipment, finances, etc.
Perhaps, it might repay enrolling farmers willing to expand their cultivation of pulses, wish to go over to their cultivation and youth who want to do so into suitable on-the-job training courses where they may be paid a modest allowance and taught exactly how to do it.
On successful completion of such training, the landless trainees may be granted a secure tenure on an adequate plot of land so that they might start as pulse growers. However, this requires careful supervision and a long follow-up with a built-in social security.
Although this is somewhat less structured than one might wish, I hope it would be of some use.
Best wishes!
Lal Manavado.
Professor Kadambot Siddique
Pulses offer a food-based solution to decreasing risk of certain diseases such as pre-diabetes and diabetes management as well as diabetes-associated complications, especially cardiovascular disease. Since diabetes is a major risk factor for several cancers and neurodegeneration, the future health of ageing populations may be dependent on a food system that provides pulses in an affordable, palatable and sustainable way. Most benefits from pulses are achieved at an intake of about 30 g per day, but lesser amounts are also beneficial.
Global demand for pulses is increasing. Around 70 million tonnes of pulses were consumed in 2011-13 period compared to 42 million tonnes in 1980-81. In developing countries more than 80% of the pulses are consumed as food; however in developed countries <40% as food. However per capita consumption of pulses declined from 10 kg in 1961 to 6.5 kg in 2011. Easy to cook high quality branded pulse products are required to promote and increase the consumption of pulses especially among city based consumers.
Nutritional and health befits can be promoted to address malnutrition and several non-communicable diseases. Government and nutrition experts must develop policies and strategies to enhance the consumption of pulses both in developing and developed countries. Urgent investment in research, development and extension is required to enhance pulse production, improving value chain, enhancing nutritional properties and overall consumption of pulses.
English translation below
L'avenir des légumineuses doit être revu parce que les régimes alimentaires de nos jours n'encouragent pas beaucoup la consommation des légumlineuses. Et en outre les légumineuses sont toujours traités comme repas des pauvres.
A suivre sur l'article ci joint. Merci.
Importances des légumineuses dans l’Afrique du nord
La consommation des légumineuses en Afrique du nord les reste toujours très limiter notamment pour les lentilles. Les résultats des enquêtes de consommation et des dépenses des ménages le montre. Cette situation est due essentiellement aux habitudes alimentaires basée sur les céréales.
En effets les gouvernements interviennent dans les marchés des céréales à travers la fixation des prix d’une certaines quantités de la farine du blé tendre soit pour protéger les producteurs nationaux (droits à l’importation).
En outre, la consommation des légumineuses, notamment les lentilles, constitue le principale repas pour les couches sociales pauvres. Cependant, pour les couches sociales riches, les légumineuses sont introduites dans les « repas d’entrée ».
Il faut dire que la culture des légumineuses reste encore limiter et sa part dans les assolements est très faible avec des rendements très faibles. En outre les agriculteurs préfèrent de vendre les produits légumineuses verts avec des prix élevé c’est le cas des petits pois et la fève qui sont plus couteuses.
L’exemple du Maroc en 2016 est très important. Sous l’effet de la sécheresse, les superficies cultivées par les légumineuses sont très limitée avec des rendements assez faible ce qui a engendré une faible production et par conséquence les prix des lentilles ont multiplié par deux à trois fois durant une période de 3 à 4 mois. Dernièrement, le gouvernement a décidé de suspendre les droits à l’importation des lentilles jusqu’à le mois du Juin 2017.
Pour l’avenir, il est important de revoir les habitudes alimentaires des populations avec les changements démographiques que connue la région en agissant sur la sensibilisation des populations, à travers les nutritionnistes, la recherches, les fabricants des biscuits pour qu’ils introduisent les légumineuses dans leurs produits à travers l’innovation de nouveaux produits spécifiques en particuliers pour les enfants les plus âgés.
1. Que peut-on faire concrètement pour accroître la consommation de légumineuses ?
- Il faut suspendre les subventions pour les farines à base du blé, ou au moins avoir les mêmes aides pour ceux qui font les légumineuses à la production et à la consommation;
Comment pouvons-nous les introduire dans les régimes alimentaires de pays où elles ne font pas partie des aliments traditionnels, et encourager leur consommation constante dans les pays où elles font déjà partie du régime alimentaire ?
- Il est introduit dans les habitudes alimentaires chez les enfants et les plus âgés à travers les régimes spécifiques ;
2. La culture de légumineuses dans le cadre de systèmes de cultures multiples permet d’enrichir l’agro biodiversité, d’accroître la résilience aux changements climatiques et d’améliorer les services éco systémiques. Les variétés modernes de légumineuses assurent-elles aux petits exploitants agricoles une alternative intéressante à d’autres cultures
3. Les légumineuses jouent un rôle important dans la fixation de l’azote dans les sols. Les variétés cultivées, dans sa grande partie, sont des variétés non sélectionnées et avec des rendements assez faibles et les agriculteurs choisissent de faire les céréales 2 à 3 fois alterné avec la jachère et même quelque fois ils ignorent totalement les légumineuses.
Quels rôles peuvent jouer les légumineuses en faveur d’une intensification durable de l’agriculture en Afrique ?
- Il y a une possibilité de faire les légumineuses juste pour la fixer l’azote et enrichir les sols pendants les périodes du printemps en particulier la fiche. Dans ce sens des aides peuvent avoir des effets positifs pour l’adhésion des agriculteurs.
- « Quelles mesures faut-il adopter pour renforcer les chaînes de valeur des légumineuses, à partir de l’offre d’intrants jusqu’à la consommation ? Quelle est la situation dans notre pays ?
Les produits des légumineuses sont moins valorisés. En général les produits sont vendus dans les marchés locaux sans aucune introduction de toute nature.
Nous vous invitons également nous faire connaître vos recettes de légumineuses (nous en avons publié quelques-unes dans notre synthèse) et de vous informer d’autres recettes sur le site Web de l’année internationale des légumineuses :
Une soupe à base de la farine des lentilles (spécifique pour les enfants et les plus âgés :
Les gradients : farine des lentilles (lentilles sont écrasées avant d’avoir grillé sans enlever les couches extérieures des graines) + eau + sel + gonion.
Comment : mélanger tous dans une marmite mette sur le feu pendant une durée de 20 mn. Les épicés sont facultatifs.
Servez vous ? Mettre dans des boules avec des morceaux du pain.
The future of pulses must be re-examined because today´s food diets do not greatly promote the consumption of pulses. Moreover, pulses are always treated as the food of the poor.
To be followed up in the attached article. Thank you.
The importance of pulses in North Africa
The consumption of pulses in North Africa continues to be limited, in particular for lentils. The results of research into consumption and expenditures of households show this. This situation is essentially due to feeding habits being based on cereals.
Indeed, governments intervene in the cereal markets by fixing prices of certain quantities of common wheat flour, this being in order to protect national producers (import duties).
In addition to this, the consumption of pulses, in particular lentils, represents the main meal for the poor social classes. However, for the wealthier classes, pulses are used as an appetizer.
It must be said that cultivating pulses is still limited and, its part in crop rotation is very weak, with very low yields. Additionally, farmers prefer to sell green pulses products at higher prices, as in the case of green peas and broad beans which are more expensive.
The example of Morocco in 2016 is very important. As a result of the drought, the cultivated areas for pulses are very limited with very low yields, which has led to low production and therefore the prices for lentils have multiplied two or three times during a period of 3 to 4 months. Recently, the government has decided to suspend duties on importing lentils until June 2017.
For the future, it is important to revise the population's feeding habits with the demographic changes seen in the region, by taking action on population awareness, through nutritionists, researches, and biscuit manufacturers so that they introduce pulses into their products, through the incorporation of new specific products, in particular for older children.
1. What can be done concretely to increase the consumption of pulses?
- It is necessary to cancel the subsidies for wheat flour, or at least have the same help for those who work with pulses in production and consumption;
How can we introduce them into the diets of countries where they aren’t traditionally consumed, and also encourage their continued consumption in those countries where pulses are already part of the diet?
- They are introduced into the eating habits of children and elderly people through specific diets;
2. Cultivating pulses in multiple cropping systems enriches agrobiodiversity, increases resilience to climate change, and improves ecosystem services. Do modern varieties of legumes provide smallholder farmers with an attractive alternative to other crops?
3. Pulses play an important role in nitrogen fixation in soils. The varieties produced, to a large extent, are non-selected and low yielding varieties, and the farmers choose to produce 2 to 3 cereals crops alternating with fallow land and sometimes they totally ignore pulses.
What are the roles that legumes can play in sustainable intensification of agriculture in Africa?
- It is possible to grow pulses only for nitrogen fixation and to enrich the soils during the spring periods, in particular the wasteland. In this sense, the help provided can have positive effects on farmers´ participation.
- What is needed to strengthen pulse value chains, from input supply to consumption? What is the situation in our country?
Pulses products are undervalued. In general, the products are sold in local markets without any kind of introduction.
We also invite you to keep sharing your recipes of pulse dishes – we published a few in our summary – and to check out other recipes on the International Year of Pulses website.
A soup based on lentil flour (specifically for children and older people)
The ingredients: lentil flour (the lentils are crushed before being roasted, without taking off the grain’s external skin) + water + salt + onion
Method: mix all the ingredients in a saucepan, and heat for 20 minutes. Spices are optional.
How to help yourself? Form into balls with pieces of bread.
This activity is now closed. Please contact [email protected] for any further information.