For the first time, the Association of Plant Production Sciences has voted for the “Cultivated Plant of the Year”. The members of the association, which is active in German-speaking countries, chose the pea as the winner of the year 2022. The pea, which was domesticated more than 9,000 years ago in the area of the fertile crescent north of the Arabian Peninsula, has a wide range of applications as fodder crops, dried peas and supplier of raw materials for the food industry.
On the one hand, the pea is harvested physiologically immature – as a tasty vegetable. As a ripe fruit, peas have a high content of valuable protein and starch, said Hans-Peter Kaul of the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Boku) Vienna, who is also president of the Society. The fact that just in the Mendel year — Gregor Mendel, who was born on July 20, 200 years ago, discovered the basic rules of heredity after crossing experiments with pea plants — the pea was chosen was a coincidence, Kaul said.
Soy displaces pea
The pea is one of the so-called legumes. These live in symbiosis with nodule bacteria and can thus fix nitrogen from the air. This makes them independent of nitrogen fertilization and therefore indispensable in crop rotation in many locations, especially in organic farming.
Due to the expansion of soybean production, peas, which are mainly used as animal feed, are now only the second most important legume in the EU. In countries such as Austria, Italy, Romania and Hungary, soybean cultivation dominates because of the warmer climate. In these countries, the pea therefore plays a minor role.
150,000 hectares in the EU for peas
Vegetable peas, as you know them from the frozen shelf, are grown on just over 150,000 hectares in the EU. The main producers are France, Hungary, Spain, Italy and Belgium. In Austria, vegetable peas were grown on about 2,200 hectares.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
