Valorization Legumes Related Ecosystem Services

Project Information

VALERECO

Grant agreement ID: 101135472

DOI

10.3030/101135472

EC signature date 13 May 2024

Start date 1 June 2024

End date 31 May 2028

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 4 901 731,25

EU contribution

€ 4 899 856,25

Coordinated by

GEOPONIKO PANEPISTIMION ATHINON
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VALERECO (Valorization Legumes Related Ecosystem Services)

Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

VALERECO is a European research and innovation project aiming to highlight the role of legume-based cropping systems in mitigating major challenges in agriculture, including climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation and overreliance on chemical inputs. Legume cultivation provides multiple environmental and agronomic benefits, known as “Ecosystem Services (ES)”. However, legume adoption in Europe remains limited due to economic, technical and policy-related constraints. VALERECO responds by improving understanding of the environmental and economic value of legume ES, demonstrating them in practice, and supporting their integration into farming practices and policy frameworks.
The project’s overall objective is to promote adoption of underutilized legume crops as a key component of diversified and climate-resilient farming systems. It works across European regions with diverse soil-climate conditions to quantify and enhance legume ES, including soil fertility improvement through biological nitrogen fixation, biodiversity support, weed and pest suppression, and reduced reliance on chemical inputs. A key strategy is establishing Living Labs (LLs) that bring together farmers, advisors, researchers and other stakeholders to co-create, test and demonstrate legume-based solutions under real farming conditions.
In parallel, VALERECO emphasises knowledge exchange, capacity building and decision support. The Digital Legume Information Hub (DLIH) provides decision-support systems (DSS), training materials and open-access platforms to support decision-making by farmers, advisors and agri-food chain stakeholders. By linking scientific evidence, stakeholder engagement and policy-relevant insights, VALERECO contributes to the transition towards environmentally friendly and economically sustainable agricultural systems, strengthening farm resilience amid major challenges in European agriculture.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first reporting period, VALERECO established the scientific context required to assess, demonstrate and upscale legume-related ES across project LLs. A consolidated knowledge base on the environmental, agronomic and socio-economic performance of legumes was developed through systematic synthesis of literature, meta-analysis and policy screening. These key activities provide a shared reference framework for the further implementation of the project. In parallel, nine LLs were established across Europe integrating farmers, advisors, researchers and stakeholders. On-station participatory field trials are underway in all Living Labs where major and underutilized legume crops are under study.
Legumes and their ES are investigated in two-factorial field trials where crop rotation and agroecological crop management consist the experimental factors. Agroecological crop management strategies include cultural practices as intercropping, cover cropping, mechanical weeding, reduced tillage systems etc. The experiments are to be conducted for three growing seasons in a wide range of soil-climate factors in the different LLs. The first trial year was completed with data collection focused on crop growth and yield, legume nitrogen fixation, soil quality traits, biodiversity indicators and weed parameters.
Complementary controlled-environment experiments were set up to assess drought and cold tolerance of selected legume species using physiological and molecular analyses to identify climate resilience traits. In parallel, behavioural and socio-economic research activities established a robust empirical baseline on perceptions, knowledge and decision-making related to legume cultivation among farmers, consumers and retailers across participating countries. This work generated harmonized datasets to support the design of future behavioural strategies and decision-support tools. The technical groundwork for the upcoming economic, environmental and life-cycle assessments (LCA) was prepared, as well as for DSS and DLIH development.
Overall, the first reporting period delivered the core scientific background to serve project goals in its subsequent implementation stages.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Existing research on legumes is often fragmented, focusing on isolated agronomic, environmental or socio-economic aspects and limited geographical contexts. In contrast, VALERECO brings together scientific assessment, participatory experimentation and behavioural analysis within a coordinated LL structure across multiple countries and agroecological zones. During the first reporting period, VALERECO has delivered methodological and infrastructural advances, including a consolidated knowledge base on legume ES, with cross-LL comparisons as a key innovation.
To quantify project impacts, data are collected and analysed on crop performance and climate resilience, soil and biodiversity indicators and weed dynamics. Cause–effect relationships are identified whenever possible to explain observed phenomena and draw more robust conclusions. In addition, the project integrates physiological, molecular and systems-level assessments of legumes’ responses to abiotic stress, strengthening the scientific basis for climate-resilient crop diversification strategies. Farmer, consumer and value-chain actor behavioural patterns are also under investigation to provide a qualitative illustration of VALERECO impacts. Overall, LL establishment creates a long-term co-creation and experimentation space that goes beyond the “plateaus” of conventional field trials.
While the project is still at an early stage, these results already extend the state of the art by enabling robust comparison, upscaling and synthesis across regions and disciplines. Further uptake and success will follow through the second and third field trial years, completion of environmental and economic assessments, validation of decision-support tools, and sustained engagement with farmers, policymakers and value-chain actors. Project ambitions rest on the hypothesis that continuous interaction between scientific evidence and real decision-making contexts opens new windows for reintroducing legumes in European fields.

Sulla Pollination

Intercropping Legume-Cereal in Greek field Trial