The impact of global warming, rising food prices and an increase in the global population have thrown a stark light upon the EU’s reliance on imported soya. As part of a series of projects aimed at improving food security and reducing the UK’s reliance on soya, a new research project is investigating the use of faba beans to feed fish and livestock. image expired

A group of ten partners, including the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, have launched the £2.6 million project, which aims to improve faba beans as a potential food source for salmon, pigs and poultry. The project arose from the Technology Strategy Board’s Sustainable Protein Production competition. A Hutton Institute statement said it was launched "In response to worldwide pressures on soya production and an over reliance on imported soya in the UK."

The project will develop processes that separate faba bean flour into two fractions – one high in protein and one low in protein but high in starch. The high protein product will then be tested in fish diets and the low protein product in pig and poultry diets, in order to improve the bean product for those markets and provide a more sustainable alternative to soya and imported fishmeal.

If the new feed is as successful as hoped, growing faba beans could have other benefits for the cropping system, as the beans fix nitrogen in soil, which improving fertility for subsequent cereal crops and reducing the need for artificial fertilisers.

Dr Gavin Ramsay, one of The James Hutton Institute scientists involved in the project, explained the potential benefits of feeding beans to fish. "Salmon are very efficient converters of protein to meat, much more so than terrestrial animals.

"The fishmeal traditionally used in salmon diets cannot meet the rising demand for salmon, so the feed industry is turning to vegetable protein sources to replace fishmeal in salmon diets. Soya protein is not an ideal feed component given the increasing competition for soya bean products and the environmentally damaging nature of soya bean cropping in South America; this project aims to create a viable and beneficial alternative."