Since its establishment in 2016, the Pea Yield Enhancement Network (Pea YEN) and later the Bean YEN (2019) have helped farmers and researchers understand yield variations in pulse crops across different fields, farms, and seasons. These Pulse YENs provide participants with detailed crop performance reports, benchmarking results against anonymized data from the wider network and identifying key drivers of high productivity.
While yield remains the primary focus, legumes offer multiple ecosystem services beyond productivity, such as nitrogen fixation and soil health improvements. However, these benefits are often difficult to quantify economically. This study leverages the Pulse YENs to develop benchmarking tools that assess both production benefits and supporting ecosystem services (e.g., nitrogen contributions to crop rotations).
Key Objectives:
- Use the Pulse YEN platform to launch the Participatory Farmer Call (PFC) and engage growers in data collection.
- Analyze historical YEN data to extract insights on provisioning services.
- Contribute example data to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models in WP4.
- Integrate ecosystem service indicators (e.g., nodulation scores, nitrogen residues) into the YEN data collection and reporting system.
By expanding the scope of Pulse YENs beyond yield-focused metrics, this study aims to provide farmers with a more comprehensive understanding of the economic and environmental value of pulse crops, supporting sustainable and high-performing farm systems.