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

NFU设定了一个大胆的目标，即到2040年，英国农业将成为一个净零产业。对于耕地部门来说，这将需要改变种植的作物和种植作物的方法。豆类作物将是这一目标的核心：它们固定大气中的氮，从而减少与氮肥生产和应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。目前国内的豆类生产主要以豌豆和蚕豆为主，但这些作物不一定针对人类消费进行了优化，而且替代品的供应有限。Cicero项目将探索一种这样的替代品，鹰嘴豆，广泛用于食品制造，但目前主要从海外进口。鹰嘴豆是人们熟悉的中东和南亚食品的关键成分，作为素食鸡蛋替代品的重要性越来越大。尽管最近国内出现了一些鹰嘴豆生产，但规模一直很小，原因是海外品种适应能力相对较差，以及种植者和顾问缺乏关于如何最好地种植鹰嘴豆的经验。目前的国内产量只占英国食品行业需求的一小部分，英国食品行业主要从加拿大、印度和土耳其进口。我们的财团将植物育种、种子营销、遗传学和农学方面的专家与种植者和食品加工商聚集在一起，代表着鹰嘴豆供应链的关键部分。Cicero的核心将是一个农艺和品种筛选计划，以确定如何为英国种植者和最终用户最大限度地利用可用的最佳鹰嘴豆品种的性能。我们还将评估各种具有新农艺特性的材料，如耐寒性、高幼苗活力和抗子囊病(病害)，并开发一套针对关键适应基因的新变种。我们的目标是通过创新技术主导的鹰嘴豆育种计划，开始将这种新变种转化为最好的品种。这将以提早春季种植和改善苗木建立为目标，使作物对杂草更具竞争力，从而提供可靠和提高产量。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结合起来。总而言之，这是一个独特的机会，可以量身定做这种宝贵的固氮间作作物，以适应英国既定的耕作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.