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

NFU 设定了到 2040 年英国农业成为净零产业的宏伟目标。对于耕地部门来说，这将需要改变种植的作物和种植方法。豆类作物将是其中的核心：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不断增长的需求，使它们在提供蛋白质营养安全方面具有独特的地位。目前国内豆类生产以豌豆和蚕豆为主，但这些豆类不一定适合人类消费，而且替代品的供应也有限。 “Cicero”项目将探索这样一种替代品：鹰嘴豆 (_Cicer arietinum_)，广泛用于食品制造，但目前主要从海外进口。鹰嘴豆是人们熟悉的中东和南亚食品的关键成分，作为纯素鸡蛋替代品的重要性与日俱增。虽然最近国内出现了一些鹰嘴豆生产，但规模较小，受到海外品种适应性相对较差以及种植者和顾问缺乏如何最佳种植作物的经验的阻碍。目前的国内产量仅占英国食品行业所需产量的一小部分，英国食品行业主要从加拿大、印度和土耳其进口。我们的联盟汇集了植物育种、种子营销、遗传学和农学方面的专家以及种植者和食品加工商，代表了鹰嘴豆供应链的关键部分。 “Cicero”的核心将是一项农学和品种筛选计划，旨在确定如何为英国种植者和最终用户最大限度地发挥最佳可用鹰嘴豆品种的性能。我们还将评估具有新颖农艺特性的多种材料，如耐寒性、高苗势和抗囊泡病（病害）能力，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佳品种。这将旨在提早春季播种并改善幼苗生长，使作物对杂草更具竞争力，从而获得可靠且更高的产量。我们将把这些农艺改进与食品行业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，可以定制这种有价值的固氮休息作物，以适应英国既定的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.