World Pulses Day 2024: Eurice Highlights the Vast Potential of Legumes in Developing Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems

Every year, on the 10th of February, World Pulses Day, a designated United Nations event, is observed globally to raise public awareness on the environmental significance and nutritional benefits of pulses.

These dry, edible seeds of plants in the legume family include chickpeas, lentils, lupins, dry peas, beans and other protein grains. Pulses are incredibly sustainable and contribute to a healthy environment. They have a low carbon footprint, due to their ability to create their own fertilisation by pulling nitrogen from the air and into the soil. Moreover, their tolerance of drought stress and their adaptation to semi-arid conditions makes them a true water saver: e.g., the production of lentils uses only one tenth of the water of the production of beef. And above all that, they are inexpensive, easy to store and highly nutritious.

“At Eurice, we feel privileged to feature two projects, INCREASE and HealthFerm, in our portfolio that focus on furthering the innovative potential of pulses in building healthy and sustainable food systems for the future that allow societies to drive, especially when it comes to food security globally. As such, boosting the cultivation of pulses is a central strategy for achieving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” says Dr Sonja Bergner, Senior Research & Innovation Manager at Eurice.

The INCREASE project implements a new approach to conserving, managing and characterising genetic resources focussing on the four types of pulses chickpea, common bean, lentil and lupin. While contributing greatly to a general awareness of agrobiodiversity across Europe, the project also develops a unique approach of decentralised conservation of more than 1,000 common bean varieties through the active involvement of thousands of European citizens.

HealthFerm investigates innovative pulse and cereal-based food fermentations, develops novel fermented foods and explores their benefits to human health and how these sophisticated foods are perceived and accepted by consumers. The project also uses the active engagement of citizens in its research and innovation process.

‘Pulses: nourishing soils and people’: this year’s theme of World Pulses Day draws special attention to the beneficial impact of cultivating pulses for a healthy soil. This supports a specific EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe. Therefore, this day is also celebrated in SOB4ES, another of Eurice’s projects, whose mission is to spotlight soil biodiversity's role in ecosystem services, integrate it into EU policies, and make its value visible to all R&I actors.

For more on Eurice’s Food and Farm-to-Fork projects, please visit our website here.

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