A day will be and food will be: In pulses we trust

Russia has celebrated the World Pulses Day

10 February, on the occasion of the World Pulses Day, the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation organized an online symposium aiming to carry the message about the usefulness of pulses as nutritious food and a tool against malnutrition, as well as to underline the importance of transition to sustainable food systems and eradicating world hunger.

“World Pulses Day is only celebrated for a second year running, yet it has already gained popularity in Russia not only with the expert community, but also with the broader public,” said Mr Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation (FAOLOR), in his opening remarks. “It is impossible to overestimate the role of pulses in our life and in the advancement of healthy, adequate nutrition. Pulses have been cultivated in Russia since ancient times: we can recall a funny Russian nursery rhyme that goes, ‘Grandma was sowing peas’, or a proverb – ‘to be left with one’s beans’. Today Russia is one of the world’s top 10 producers of pulses.”

Dr Vladimir Zotikov, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Research Director, Federal Scientific Center of Legumes and Groat Crops, told the participants that in Russia peas were the leading pulses (72.8 percent), followed by chickpeas (12.3 percent), lupin (7.4 percent) and vetch (5.8 percent) trailing by lentils, beans and kidney beans.

Crop production areas are being expanded: pulses cover up to 2.5 million hectares, soybeans – some 3 million hectares. Crop yield of soybeans is on the rise: since 2013, soybean production has repeatedly surpassed that of pulses, including peas. The task before Russian plant breeders, Dr Zotikov said, was to produce new peas cultivars resistant to phytocenosis and lodging, and ultimately reduce losses.

Dr Teodardo Calles, FAO expert on leguminous crops, Dr Irina Kovrova and Dr Tomasz Filipczuk, FAO statisticians (Crops, Livestock and Food Statistics) presented a classification and the results of the monitoring process in their joint reports “Nutritious seeds for a sustainable future” and “Pulses in FAOSTAT database”.

“Pulses are one of the main nutrients sources for humanity. In 2019, global production of pulses reached 88.3 million tons. Leguminous crops are rich in protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Their role in diets, production, and international trade is on the rise,” said Dr Calles.

FAO recognizes 11 types of pulses: beans (dry), broad beans (dry), peas (dry), chickpeas, cowpeas, pigeon peas, lentils, Bambara beans, vetches, lupins and other pulses. Beans (dry), chickpeas and various types of peas are the most produced pulses in the world.

In 2019, Russia was one of the 10 largest producers of pulses and ranked sixth in terms of production in metric tons. India is first on this list, followed by Canada, Myanmar, China, Nigeria, and Russia (3.344 million tons).

International trade in pulses has significantly increased over the last decades from around 2 million tons in 1970s to 18 million tons in 2019. However, almost 80 percent of the world pulses crop was used to satisfy the domestic demand.

Canada plays a special role with 86 percent of domestically produced and imported pulses earmarked for exports, as well as India that is the world’s largest producer, importer, and consumer of pulses at the same time. China and Bangladesh are the world’s major importers of pulses after India. However, there are countries where the share of pulses in the total daily calory consumed intake is 0 percent. Among Russia’s closest neighbors these are Belarus, Georgia, and Uzbekistan.

Mr Sergei Pluzhnikov, Head of Procurement Department, Grainrus Trade LLC, describing further prospects of pulses production in Russia, noted that the gross harvest forecast for 2020 was corrected due to the crop yield decrease: 215,000-225,000 tons instead of 275,000 tons. Crop area for pulses is expected to be expanded in 2021. This is partially linked to the additional export opportunities to India’s vast consumer market accounting for 1/4 of global pulses’ exports.

Mr Vladimir Moshkalo, Head of UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Office in Russia, underlined ecosystem services provided by pulses in his presentation “Pulses, Combating Climate Change and Preserving Biodiversity.” “The role of pulses is especially important as the introduction of more effective agricultural practices can help significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and decrease the need in fertilizers,” the expert noted.

“Including pulses in the crop rotation allows us to use symbiotic bacteria to enrich the soil with nitrogen and increase the crop yield without introducing mineral nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Residual nitrogen is also used by next plantings in crop rotation increasing their productivity. Thus, in multiple cropping of coarse pulses and grasses, soil nitrogen improves productivity of rangelands. Adding pulses into forages helps to increase feed-to-weight conversion factor and reduce methane emissions from the cattle enteric fermentation, which, in turn, decreases greenhouse gas emissions in livestock production,” the UNEP representative underlined.

Pulses can be a major contribution to the restoration of the planet’s ecosystems. “Preventing, halting, and reversing the degradation of ecosystems” are the goals set for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, co-coordinated together by UNEP and FAO, Mr Moshkalo concluded.

Dr Alexey Dumoulin, grain market expert, noted that five years ago few people could predict an increase in the cropland under pulses in Russia by 50 percent, as well as a noticeable increase in the exports of this commodity. He noted the ecological aspect, the fact that pulses have a “phenomenal feature of accumulating nitrogen and regenerating soil.”

The expert also mentioned the nutritional properties of pulses. The protein in pulses is better absorbed than the animal protein in meat products, which contributes to the further development of this sector of crop production. Medieval Russians praised “Tzar Gorokh” (“King Pea”) and dreamed of “milk rivers with jelly shores”. In ancient times, jelly was salty because it was made from... peas, shared Alexey Dumoulin.

Dr Olga Amelyanchik, Senior Researcher, Department of Agrochemistry and Plant Biochemistry, Faculty of Soil Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University, recalled in her presentation “Pulses: plant and human nutrition” that “the transition to agriculture from hunting and gathering has led, on the one hand, to reduction in the risk of hunger, and on the other hand, to significant impoverishment of the human diet. Growing pulses along with cereals for thousands of years has helped to enrich food rations and adjust the amino acid composition of food for humans and feed for farm animals."

"The first step towards sustainable development based on two types of grain crops, cereals and legumes," the expert said, stressing that obtaining protein from legumes is tenfold cheaper than from cereals. "With the depletion of animal protein resources in dense settlements of agricultural communities, neither cereals nor legumes alone could provide a complete protein diet, but in combination with each other, they allowed to maintain a relatively balanced composition of amino acids in food."

"In the Bible story that takes us back to those times, Jacob offers Esau bread (most likely made from barley or spelt flour) and lentil soup,” recalled Dr Amelyanchik.

In turn, Dr Galina Gataulina, Professor, Department of Crop Production and Grassland Ecosystems, Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, spoke in detail about the selection of varieties of white lupine (Lupinus albus L.) with a determinant growth type and a protein content of 38-42 percent in the grain, providing protein collection with a seed yield of 12-15 c/ha without nitrogen fertilizers. The Timiryazevskiy variety of white lupine (Lupinus albus L.) included in the State Register of Selection Achievements has been approved for crop production in the Russian Federation since 2018. This variety, whose protein content is close to that of soy, the "protein champion", is intended for use for feed purposes and for processing. White lupine grain can be used as a high-protein supplement instead of soy meal when fattening cattle, pigs and poultry.

Timiryazevskiy lupine is also more productive than soy and can grow in more severe conditions. “There are no trypsin inhibitors in lupine grain; it can be used in feed without heat treatment. Lupine grains also hold tight to the bean and do not crack or fall off when ripe. With an excess of moisture, the plants do not overgrow,” Professor Gataulina highlighted.

Dr Margarita Vishnyakova, Professor, Head of the Department of Genetic Resources, Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, presented the Institute’s vast collection of pulses’ genetic resources. This collection, the largest in Europe, enables scientists to study the source material for selection and the emergence of new alleles of genes, to track genetic erosion and to analyze the possibilities of diversifying the use of the gene pool. "Currently, over 900 varieties of 22 types of 29 cultivars of pulses are zoned in Russia," Professor Vishnyakova noted.

_________________

“As the forum has convincingly shown, production, trade and, no less, if not more important, consumption of pulses are growing in Russia. But there is still room for improvement so that the increase in the share of pulses ensures food security and the transition to a healthy diet," FAOLOR Director Oleg Kobiakov concluded.

The online symposium was attended by more than 70 experts, as well as students of Moscow and regional agricultural universities.

* * *

You can get watch the discussion at the scientific and practical conference in the recording. The speakers’ presentations are available here. We also present you a fascinating illustrated popular science publication «ЗернобобовыеРоссии» (“Russian Pulses”) which was published for the International Year of Pulses by the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation with the support of the FAO Office of Corporate Communications.

Background information:

Pulses are a type of leguminous crop that are harvested solely for the dry seed. Dried beans, lentils and peas are the most commonly known and consumed types of pulses. What makes pulses so important?

Nutritional value

Pulses are naturally low in fat and contain no cholesterol, which can contribute to reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Pulses are low in sodium; their glycemic index is low, which can help to stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels. Pulses are almost gluten-free.Pulses are an excellent source of plant-based protein, iron, folate (a B-vitamin); they are high in potassium. Moreover, pulses are among top high fiber foods essential for digestive health.

Food Security

Pulses are an important crop for farmers because they can be both sold and consumed by farmers and their families. Pulses significantly improve soil fertility through naturally enriching the soil with nitrogen, which makes them an indispensable crop in the crop rotation.

Combating climate change

Pulses can contribute to mitigating the impact of climate change, as they decrease the reliance on artificial nitrogen fertilizers. Pulses can be stored for a long time, thus helping to increase dietary diversity. Pulses are our delicious allies in achieving food security, reducing malnutrition, and eradicating hunger.