Innovative & challenging
The LEGENDARY project will provide ready-to-use indicators that farmers and advisors can use to evaluate and value the benefits of growing legumes. To this end, the project partners
are joining forces by focusing on quantifying ecosystem services (e.g. soil fertility, pollination, nitrogen utilisation, greenhouse gas reduction, erosion reduction) of annual and perennial legumes in different agro-climatic zones in Europe.
The project partners will
(1) collect data in field trials at research institutes and through on-farm demonstration trials,
(2) deploy innovative measurement tools and methods, such as sensors and machine learning, to quantify legume ecosystem services in combination with standard observation methods, and
(3) develop user-friendly tools to support farmers and advisors in their choice of legumes and cropping systems.
The increasing area of legumes will contribute to more diversified farming systems, increased food diversity and to the further accretion of agrobiodiversity in the EU.
Involvement of the entire agricultural sector
The LEGENDARY project aims to involve the full breadth of the agronomic sector by organising workshops and demos for farmers, agricultural advisors and other stakeholders. This will ensure better implementation of the project results in current and future agricultural practices.
Horizon Europe: 21 partners from 11 countries
The four-year Horizon Europe project LEGENDARY started in 2024. LEGENDARY is a collaboration of experts from 11 countries. The 21 partners are universities, companies and organisations. UGent is coordinator of this ambitious project.
