FACTUAL

Securing spring faba bean production through an agronomic innovation that involves planting in the fall rather than in the spring: this shift would allow for an earlier growth cycle and help avoid water and heat stress during flowering, a critical phase for yield. This practice could be made possible by global warming. This security would help address major challenges for industry stakeholders:

• The promotion of spring field beans meets a growing demand for high-quality plant proteins, while supporting the development of local and sustainable supply chains, due to their low content of antinutritional factors in both animal and human feed. 
• From an agronomic perspective, the field fava bean is a grain legume that fits perfectly into sustainable agricultural systems: it helps diversify crop rotations and improve soil fertility, particularly through its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen via its symbiotic bacteria.
•    It also helps limit greenhouse gas emissions, preserve water quality, and improve the resilience of agricultural systems.
•    The field bean is well-suited to organic farming due to its high nitrogen-fixing capacity and its resistance to certain diseases, such as Aphanomyces euteiches.
If the results prove conclusive, this innovation could be shared with all stakeholders in the sector, both upstream and downstream, to promote large-scale adoption.
 

The project is structured around three complementary objectives:
• To assess the feasibility of producing spring field beans sown in the fall in
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté• To promote the use of spring field beans in human
food• To disseminate information and engage stakeholders to help structure the sector
 

• Theoretical mapping of areas suitable, uncertain, or unsuitable for the cultivation of spring field beans sown in the
fall• Development of an agronomic rationale and analysis of existing experimental results to assess the production potential of spring field beans sown in the fall in
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté•    Evaluation of the effectiveness of the strategies tested in the
field• Conducting an assessment of the field bean sector in
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté• Development of a case for the potential use of spring field beans sown in the fall for human and animal feed