The area of farmland under legume production in the European Union (EU) has steadily declined (with the notable exception of soya) in the last decades (FAOSTAT, 2018). Recently, it has been estimated that grain legumes occupy only 1.8% of arable land in the EU (Pelzer et al., 2017). This low percentage appears to indicate that despite the expected ecosystem service (ES) benefits of including legumes in cropping systems, various factors are dissuading farmers from doing so. Extension, policy, and marketing initiatives aimed at bolstering farmers’ uptake of legume crops require sound scientific evidence of the role and benefits of legumes in sustainable farm management. Gaining an overview of what is already known about ES delivered by legume crops can both feed these knowledge needs and direct new research.

Agro-ecosystem services and drivers of variability in their delivery from legumes in European cropping systems: a systematic review

Daniele Antichi;
2019-01-01

Abstract

The area of farmland under legume production in the European Union (EU) has steadily declined (with the notable exception of soya) in the last decades (FAOSTAT, 2018). Recently, it has been estimated that grain legumes occupy only 1.8% of arable land in the EU (Pelzer et al., 2017). This low percentage appears to indicate that despite the expected ecosystem service (ES) benefits of including legumes in cropping systems, various factors are dissuading farmers from doing so. Extension, policy, and marketing initiatives aimed at bolstering farmers’ uptake of legume crops require sound scientific evidence of the role and benefits of legumes in sustainable farm management. Gaining an overview of what is already known about ES delivered by legume crops can both feed these knowledge needs and direct new research.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/1015313
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