Cicero - Developing chickpea as a novel source of domestic UK protein

NFU设定了大胆的目标，即到2040年英国农业成为净零产业。对于可耕地部门，这将需要改变种植的作物和种植方法。豆类作物将是这方面的核心：它们固定大气中的氮，从而减少与氮肥生产和施用相关的高温室气体排放。它们还可以满足消费者对植物蛋白日益增长的需求，使它们在提供蛋白质营养安全方面处于独特的地位。目前国内豆类生产以豌豆和蚕豆为主，但这些作物不一定适合人类消费，而且替代品的供应有限。“西塞罗”项目将探索一种这样的替代品，鹰嘴豆（_Cicer arietinum_），广泛用于食品制造，但目前主要从海外进口。鹰嘴豆是熟悉的中东和南亚食品的关键成分，作为素食鸡蛋的替代品越来越重要。虽然最近有一些国内鹰嘴豆生产，但这是小规模的，受到相对适应性较差的海外品种以及种植者和顾问缺乏关于如何最好地种植作物的经验的阻碍。目前国内产量仅占英国食品行业所需产量的一小部分，该行业主要从加拿大，印度和土耳其进口。我们的联盟汇集了植物育种，种子营销，遗传学和农学方面的专家，种植者和食品加工商，代表鹰嘴豆供应链的关键部分。“西塞罗”的核心将是一个农学和品种筛选计划，以确定如何最大限度地提高英国种植者和最终用户的最佳鹰嘴豆品种的性能。我们还将评估具有耐寒性、高幼苗活力和抗壳二胞枯萎病等新农艺性状的各种材料，并针对关键适应基因开发一套新的变异体。我们的目标是通过创新技术引领的鹰嘴豆育种计划，开始将这种新变异体转化为最佳品种。这将针对早春种植和改善幼苗建立，使作物对杂草更具竞争力，以提供可靠和增加的产量。我们将把这些农艺改进与食品部门确定的关键营养和功能目标相结合。总之，这代表了一个独特的机会，以定制这种有价值的固氮打破作物，以适应既建立英国耕地轮作和食品制造商的技术要求。

The NFU has set the bold target of UK agriculture becoming a net-zero industry by 2040\. For the arable sector, this will necessitate changes both to the crops which are grown and the approaches taken to growing them. Legume crops will be central to this: they fix atmospheric nitrogen, thus reducing the high greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production and application of nitrogen fertiliser. They can also service growing consumer demand for plant-based protein, making them uniquely placed to deliver protein nutritional security. Current domestic legume production is dominated by pea and field (faba) bean, but these are not necessarily optimised for human consumption, and there is limited availability of alternatives. The 'Cicero' project will explore one such alternative, chickpea (_Cicer arietinum_), widely used in food manufacturing but currently largely imported from overseas.Chickpea is a key ingredient in familiar Middle Eastern and South Asian foods and has a growing importance as a vegan egg alternative. Whilst there has been some recent domestic chickpea production, this has been on a small-scale, hampered by relatively poorly-adapted overseas varieties and a lack of experience from growers and advisors about how best to grow the crop. Current domestic production represents a tiny fraction of the volume required by the UK food sector, which is dominated by imports from Canada, India and Turkey.Our consortium brings together experts in plant breeding, seed marketing, genetics and agronomy with growers and food processors, representing key parts of the chickpea supply chain. At the heart of 'Cicero' will be an agronomy and variety screening programme to identify how to maximise performance from the best available chickpea varieties for UK growers and end-users. We will also evaluate diverse material carrying novel agronomic characteristics such as cold tolerance, high seedling vigour and Ascochyta blight (disease) resistance, and develop a suite of new variants targeting key adaptation genes.We aim to start transferring this novel variation into the best varieties through an innovative technology-led chickpea breeding programme. This will target earlier spring planting and improved seedling establishment, making the crop more competitive against weeds to give reliable and increased yield. We will integrate these agronomic improvements with key nutritional and functionality targets identified by the food sector. Together this represents a unique opportunity to tailor this valuable nitrogen-fixing break crop to fit both with established UK arable rotations and the technical requirements of food manufacturers.