24 I SEED WORLD EUROPE I SEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE | MAY 2026 A major reason for the decline is that grain legume crop yield has not kept pace with the yield of the competing crops that European farmers excel in growing. Unlike the more widely grown crops, key traits such as crop architecture have seen limited progress in recent decades, with few notable advances beyond the semi-leafless pea trait developed in the 1970s. The opportunity cost of growing pea in France with respect to wheat has increased from about 1.3 tonnes of wheat per tonne of pea in the 1960s to about 2 tonnes of wheat today. This means that, at least for grain yield, the agronomic performance of pea compared with wheat has declined. This is what matters to farmers. Reversing this trend is essential if the use of legumes is to be restored. PLANT BREEDING: THE FOUNDATION OF CROP PERFORMANCE The surge in the agronomic performance of the major arable crops since 1960 is attributable in large part to plant breeding carried out in publicly owned breeding programmes. As illustrated by the privatisation of the public Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge in 1987, there has been a steady weakening of long-term strategic links between academic plant science research and the plant breeding programmes upon which the benefits of plant science for farmers largely depend. Debate about the great potential of plant science often overlooks the fact that the practical use for society of genetic resources, gene editing, GWAS, genomic selection, transcriptomics, resistance genes, metabolomics, phenotyping etc., depends on plant breeders using these to deliver improved cultivars to the market for purchase by farmers. WHY LEGUME BREEDING STRUGGLES TO ATTRACT INVESTMENT Achieving meaningful genetic improvement in legumes, especially for yield, requires long-term, high-risk investment that is unlikely to come solely from private breeding programmes under current market conditions. In addition to directly benefiting farmers, the plant breeder’s privilege in Europe makes each breeder’s gains freely available to all competing breeders for their own further breeding. This fosters innovation and gives most plant genetic improvement a strong public-good character. However, as is expected for public goods, it comes with the risk of under-investment in breeding due to resulting biological constraints on the revenue from breeding. This is especially so for minor crops such as the grain legumes. Grain legumes in particular are easily reproduced on farms without paying royalties and their minor crop status means that the market for their seed for multiplication by agents is limited. The overall result is sub-optimal investment in legume breeding from both an agricultural and wider societal viewpoint. This market failure applies to all relevant agronomic and quality traits, including crop yield. Against this background, we hold that relevant public funding needs to focus on supporting the connection between biological research and breeding within collaborative innovation structures focused on clear researchable scientific and innovation challenges and oppor tunities identified by breeders. A NEW MODEL: BREEDER-LED INNOVATION COMMUNITIES Legume Generation boosts breeding by funding breeder-led, spe cies-specific innovation communities. The consortium has estab lished six innovation communities — soybean, lupins, pea, lentil, phaseolus beans, and clovers — supported by cross-cutting activities in data management, genetics and genomics, phenotyping, train ing, governance and finance, and communication. Each community reflects the biology and research landscape of its crop, focusing on targeted genetic improvement. These investments foster new ways of working and thinking between breeders and researchers, with potentially lasting impact. The species-specific approach enables pre-competitive collaboration tailored to each crop, supported by governance frameworks that allow genetic resources, data, and expertise to move efficiently and securely while protecting commer cial interests and aligning with farmers’ needs. Partners exchange seed and breeding lines under material transfer agreements to accel erate trials while maintaining traceability. Innovation communities also align on data governance, using harmonised trait descriptors and coordinated multi-site, multi-year trials. An Open Science approach promotes early internal sharing of data and insights, fol lowed by academic publication that safeguards intellectual property balancing collaboration with competitiveness. By organising research around breeding structures rather than scientific disciplines, the consortium ensures breeders more directly guide and benefit from research while strengthening pre-competitive collaboration. Editors’ Note: Legume Generation (Boosting innovation in breeding for the next generation of legume crops for Europe) is an innovation action funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe under grant agreement 101081329. It also receives support from the governments of the United Kingdom, Switzerland and New Zealand. The Legume Generation consortium comprises 34 partners in 15 countries. Prof. Johann Vollmann of the BOKU University in Austria and leader of the Soybean Innovation Community inspecting hundreds of soybean varietal lines at Tulln near Vienna
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