Bambara Bean & Crop Handling Innovation for a Protein-Rich Future

Bambara Bean & Crop Handling Innovation for a Protein-Rich Future

Abstract

Eco-friendly agricultural methods of maximizing outputs while minimizing inputs is an ever growing target in our world today. There is a need for climate smart agriculture to mitigate global warming and feed an ever growing population. Previous methods of farming more land are not viable as land is limited. This proposal covers efficient climate smart agricultural practices to increase quantity, quality and nutritional content of crops with a particular emphasis on protein.

The protein pulse in focus is bambara bean. This bean is a nearly complete protein with a rich amino acid profile, a good source of vitamins and minerals - especially iron. It grows in nearly any condition and is weather resilient, pest resilient and fixes nitrogen and other beneficial elements in the soil for increased soil health for other crops. It intercrops well as a cover crop and enters as a beneficial element of a crop rotation with crops such as wheat, corn, rice, soy and other cereals and staple crops. This proposal examines intercropping bambara and maize to achieve a significant increase in protein per unit of land (g/hectare).

In addition to this relatively unknown pulse, this proposal will be a holistic address to improve protein content of all crops in the agricultural system as well as improving soil and environmental health while minimizing inputs and maximizing outputs. Protein enhancement can occur across multiple stages of a crop's life. We will examine each one and explore various methods that can be utilized separately and in combination to achieve the highest possible protein content per unit of land. These stages are pre-harvest, growth, harvest and post-harvest.

Introduction

One simple method to increase the amount of protein at harvest is to plant crops that are naturally high in protein such as pulses and the larger legume family. Doing so in combination with strategic harvest cycles for added soil health will be one aspect of this proposal, but this proposal will go far deeper. Far more creative solutions are needed than simply rearranging what is already done today. This proposal will foster ideas for enhanced protein content of all crops harvested, not just pulses.

The type of seed selected will be very important in creating a high protein yielding crop that also benefits the soil. Leguminous, nitrogen fixing (injecting nitrogen in the soil as they grow) crops are a great aspect of protein rich agriculture. They are typically resilient, can grow in most environmental conditions and have anywhere from 10-40% protein content. Sometimes the best advancements come from existing technology applied in novel ways or new environments. That’s what this proposal embodies and it starts with bambara beans (vigna subterranea). Bambara bean is a great meat replacement with a dietary profile high in protein (up to 40%), iron, antioxidants and essential nutrients. It is resistant to pests and has a dense cover crop to prevent weed growth - this makes it ideal for intercropping. Germination takes place after 2 weeks and final harvest takes 4 months. Plant bambara 3cm deep in the soil, 30cm apart. Bambara is undiscovered by markets outside of Sub-Saharan Africa. It can grow in a wide variety of soils in addition to Sub-Saharan Africa - Europe, Asia and America. This provides a ripe opportunity to expand a new beneficial crop to the soil, environment and consumers.

Nutrition

Carbohydrates comprise most of the bambara percentage by weight, led by complex oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. Fiber accounts for up to 10% of bambara beans and a large part of that is insoluble. Starch accounts for approximately 50% of the total carbohydrates. Resistant starch (great regulator of blood sugar levels) is a strong component in this starch composition. This is a slow digestible bean allowing nutrient uptake to occur over a long period of time (4-8 hours) keeping metabolism stable and offering a diabetic friendly crop. Cooking allows it to become a more rapidly digestible starch.

Protein comprises up to 40% of the bambara bean by weight. The average is 25% so it is important to breed strictly the 40% protein content beans, which are those darkest red in color. Bambara is rich in essential amino acids including isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, and valine. Of the essential amino acids, leucine and lysine have the highest concentrations and methionine the lowest. It will benefit with a cereal pairing that naturally contains higher levels of methionine and the missing levels of histidine and tryptophan ,such as rice, tol form a complete protein meal. Rice and maize will be strong pairings to be considered in meals containing bambara both from a taste perspective and a protein perspective (overall levels of protein for maize and complimentary essential amino acids for rice).

Bambara yields approximately 9,350 hg/hectare of edible beans. This translates to 374,000g of protein/ha (935,500g of total weight x 40% highest potential bambara bean protein content) given bambara’s highest protein content cultivar. This can be compared to 56,820g protein/ha for rice (9% maximum protein content at 21,770) or 121,5000g/ha protein for corn (15% maximum protein content at 8,100hg/ha) using the same methods. This amounts to 308% more people getting their protein RDA compared to maize and 658% compared to rice. These data were calculated by taking the 2018 harvest data from FAO stat in Burkina Faso and taking the yield/ha, weight of final edible seed into account to get the overall grams of protein per hectare. Then taking the RDA of 0.8g of protein per kg of bodyweight and the 2012 BMC public health record global average human weight of 62kg (50g/person/day of protein). The total people receiving their RDA of protein/hectare is shown here:

Bambara: 7,480 people

Maize: 2,430 people

Rice: 1,136 people

The lipid content of bambara ranges from 2-10%. Most of the fatty acids are unsaturated, led by oleic and linoleic acids (omega-6) and followed by palmitic and linoleic acid (omega-3). This provides a healthy fat alternative to common saturated fats that increase cholesterol and blood pressure. Bambara is a rare combination of healthy micronutrients and macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fats) with a fatty acid profile that benefits heart, bone, hair health and a number of other measures.

Micronutrients are a large part of how bambara separates itself from cereals and other crops and pulses. It is rich in iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc. This along with its protein and omega’s make it a good option as a meat replacement - great for vegans, children, women and mothers.

As this proposal is focused primarily on protein, one method of enhancing protein of bambara is germination. Soaking the bean for ninety-six hours can increase the protein content 15-20%. This also increases amino acid content, bioavailability and decreases carbohydrate content and antinutritive factors such as tannins, oxalate and saponin. After germination, further value addition can take place by drying and milling the bambara beans into a protein rich flour. This can be combined with maize, wheat and rice - common crops that would benefit from rotational and intercropping of bambara due to its nitrogen fixation.

End Products

Flour naturally fortified with bambara can be used to make a number of common dishes including pancakes, cookies, crackers and quickbreads. These products can use an all-purpose flour mixture in combination with bambara flour. Bambara can be added in amounts of 10-25% while still keeping the integrity of the flour for the final end product. This can enhance the formulation's protein content by up to 11% along with the micronutrient, fiber and omega fatty acid benefits. The taste is best suited for products that naturally have a bit of a nutty and earthy flavor or a typical wheat flour base.

PART TWO

Part two of this proposal investigates stages of the crop cycle that can aid in enhanced protein content. We will investigate factors that can be manipulated in the following stages for enhanced nutrient (largely protein), environmental and economic benefits: pre-harvest, growth, harvest, post-harvest.

Pre-Harvest

Seed

We investigated which seed will be selected in this proposal for enhanced protein, nutrient, environmental and agricultural benefits. It is now time to examine how those can be enhanced even further. The innovations in this proposal draw from a mixture of theoretical and proven practices. We will start with a theoretical one that, if done correctly, can change the game of agriculture. Seeds are the foundation of agriculture in which all crops stem from. There needs to be an improved effort on enhancing the protein content of seeds themselves. This can be done through genetic modification and breeding (which are current, necessary solutions in our world and highly advocated in this proposal of bambara bean) but it is time to investigate novel techniques.

Nutrient injecting/infusing is a method that allows pre-selected properties to be implemented in a seed before it even touches the soil. There are multiple potential methods for this to be accomplished.

1. Physical injection of amino acids into the cells of the seed is one. Imagine a doctor with a needle injecting a vein in our arms with a vaccination. Here we replace the arm with the seed and the vaccine with amino acids. This allows higher protein content and ability to form complete proteins.

2. Osmotic absorption - soaking or dusting seeds in a protein bath to induce osmotic transfer of protein through the seed’s pores. This replicates osmosis of a higher concentration of protein (the implemented nutrient) to a lower concentration of protein (the seed).

3. Gas exchange could be utilized by infusing the air with a denser composition of nitrogen and other gasses that aid in protein development. There can be special chambers in which seeds undergo this treatment and specifically controlled atmospheric gasses that correlate to optimal nutrient absorption of each seed species.

4. Chemical infusion can be investigated to bond the seed’s inner membrane with protein cells to affix higher levels of protein beneath the seed’s coat. This method is a pseudo in vitro fertilization focused on enhanced protein.

These methods can accomplish enhanced protein content, fortified amino acids and formation of complete proteins in seeds. These seeds are then propagated in seed banks to prepare for planting. The infusion could be focused on not just protein, but complimentary nutrients that enhance bioavailability.

Soil

The soil plays a large part in nutrient absorption of the crops. This is what's on the crop’s dining table each meal. They say we are what we eat, well crops are too. NPK fertilizer is the most commonly used input (food), but chemicals and fertilizers come with a variety of negative environmental ramifications including ozone pollutants and runoff into bodies of water. This proposal focuses on climate friendly, cost friendly interventions. These include natural fertilizers, manures, fresh green biomass and nitrogen rich compost.

A healthy root system (think the human digestive tract) dives deep into the soil and sends nutrients along its ingestive route to the end cell’s destination (usually the leaves, stalks and seeds). Root systems act as channels for both communication and nutrient transfer. The more nutrients available in the soil, the healthier the crop will be. Certain soil inputs (ie. nitrogen) result in certain nutritive outputs (ie. protein content). This can be taken one step further by co-planting enzymes and fungi pods with each crop seed planted in the soil. These mini nutritive tablets (think our multivitamin capsules) can be completely customized based on the crop’s needs and are simply planted in the same hole as the seeds of the crop. This allows for immediate and proximate meals for the seeds to start their first trimester off optimally. There can be slow release water pods included in these planting pockets to ensure adequate moisture is given to the seed’s kitchen. Tree root systems use these communication and nutrient transfer channels to thrive in their given environments. Enzymes and fungi help them reach optimal communication speeds and nutrient transfer.

Land preparation is a crucial aspect of soil health. Low and no tillage techniques aid in the overall nutrients that stay inside the soil and prevent the release of carbon during tillage. Covering the soil with manure and green compost (ie. wheat stalks and legume leaves) protects the soil from the harsh sun rays and other elements. This retains moisture in the soil and softness of the earth for ease of root penetration for healthier crops. Avoiding tilling reduces carbon. Carbon is released whenever the topsoil is broken up and the below ground carbon is exposed to open air. Gas transfer occurs and there is more carbon released into the atmosphere. No tillage aids in both nutrition and climate change. This is a suggested green practice for all bambara fields involved in this proposal.

One of the reasons pulses are so beneficial is due to their protein content and their nitrogen fixation. What is nitrogen fixation and why is it so important for soil health? Nitrogen fixing crops, like legumes, have roots that cultivate a specific type of bacteria (rhizobia) that pull in nitrogen from the air. These bacteria process the nitrogen into ammonia - a usable form for the plant. When the bacteria is finished with the process, the leftover is given (fixed) to the soil. Nitrogen is the most important element for soil health. This is because it is a large part of chlorophyll, the green aspect of plants and is a component of all proteins. Plants feed on nitrogen in key growth processes to generate big leafy greens for adequate photosynthesis and proper maturity of its key plant parts to become big, strong and full of nutrients. In addition to nitrogen fixation, legumes play an important role in intercropping (cover crops) and crop rotation to fix nitrogen back into the soil for healthy protein levels of subsequent crops.

Other Mentionable Crops & Agricultural Crop Pairing

There are many pulses that have reasonably high protein content and nitrogen fixing capabilities. Soy is one commonly thought of bean linked to protein yields. Soybeans are one of the richest plant sources of protein in the world (up to 45%). Naturally, they need to be in the discussion of improved protein yielding pulses. Soy has detrimental effects on the environment as it is farmed today. In Brazil, for example, 55 million tonnes of topsoil is lost due to soy cultivation every year. This ruins the fertility of the soil and depletes it of nutrients. Causing the subsequent harvest on those fields to be less healthy or to cause a detrimental loop of compensating with fertilizer which runs off and pollutes the surrounding environment. Soy is a nitrogen fixing crop, but it requires high amounts of nitrogen itself - 4-5 lbs per bushel. This proposal is going to avoid soy and replace it with bambara and briefly mention other pulse cover crops that retain top soil and enrich the soil.

A few pulses with high average values of protein content include adzuki bean (26% protein) broad bean (26%) mung bean (25%) cowpea (24%) pea (23%) lentil (23%) and lima bean (23%). These largely will work with crop rotations and intercropping agricultural systems to enhance protein yields and soil health. This proposal, however, will focus on bambara beans.

Moringa is another crop that needs to be in any high protein climate smart agricultural strategy. These trees grow in almost all climates including those that are extremely hot and arid. They are a nutrient powerhouse deemed superfood having more protein per gram than eggs, more potassium per gram than bananas and more calcium per gram than milk along with a stacked vitamin and mineral profile. The seeds can be used to filter water and the root system improves soil health through nutrient fixation and breaking up dense soil for water to reach further into the water table. Moringa should be placed every 3 meters around the outside of all bambara fields.

Intercropping is a system that combines multiple crops in one field. This can be a staple crop such as maize with a nitrogen fixing cover crop such as bambara. The maize needs nitrogen and instead of pouring excessive amounts of NPK fertilizer, the bambara provides those nutrients naturally through the soil. The nutrient transfer takes place underground through the root system as the crops are situated right next to each other, the bambara is cropped “in between” the maize. Cover crop intercropping is a popular method in crop rotation, organic, no till agriculture. Cover crops also provide the advantage of shade to the soil. Once the corn has matured past the height of the bambara leaves, the leaves provide shade for the soil, preventing weed growth and retaining moisture. Weeds suck nutrients out of the soil that otherwise could go to the intended planted crops, this is an important benefit of bambara beans and other cover crops.

Rye, wheat, corn, barley, oats are all common staples that are good for preventing soil erosion with strong root systems but they require larger levels of nitrogen to thrive. That is why intercropping and crop rotations with bambara is so important. Other nitrogen fixing pulses with strong protein content are mentioned above (adzuki, broad, mung, lima beans, lentils, pea and cowpea).

An incredibly significant finding occurs during intercropping with its overall effect of crop volume. For example, a monocropped field with maize alone has similar yields with a field mixed with maize and bambara. Pilot field studies comparing intercropping yields of control plot yields show intercropping yields roughly the same amount of harvest as does the monocropped field albeit using far less space. A side by side plot comparison of maize intercropped with bean varieties yielded approximately the same yield as its control uniform maize plot. This shows the power of intercropping. It not only provides nutrients for its partner crop to have larger, healthier yields, it grows itself too, yielding essentially twice the harvest on the same plot of land.

Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) is a measure that represents relative yields. Ie. in the above example, if that amount of maize was planted on a field by itself with the same equivalent yield, it would have produced essentially double based on the equivalent land usage if monocropped. Therefore, the LER would be 2 - in other words, using this system creates twice the yield on equivalent land.

Intercropping spacing is important for optimal crop yields. This proposal will investigate maize and bambara intercropping for a high protein yielded harvest. The spacing of maize is 90 x 27cm, two seeds per hole. Bambara beans are spaced 30 cm apart and 30 cm from the maize. Let’s revisit our protein yields per hectare described above. This intercropping allows 76% protein content of maize and 83% protein content of bambara compared to a monocropped field. This results in 121,5000g/ha protein for corn and 374,000g of protein/ha for bambara. These are the totals per hectare. The intercropping results in 92,340g/ha of maize protein and 310,420g/ha of bambara and with a total of 402,760g/ha. This yields a 330% protein yield from maize alone and delivers 8,055 people their protein RDA compared to bambara: 7,480 people and Maize: 2,430 people alone.

Growth

The growth phase is where the crop develops, absorbs nutrients and matures to time of harvest. This is the most important phase for natural nutrient intake. There are well-known agricultural practices that are crucial during the growth phase including fertilizer application, watering and pesticides, herbicides. This proposal is not going to focus on these and rather examine more novel approaches to enrich soil quality, overall health of the crop and protein content in particular.

Bees are great pollinators. Bees transfer nutrients in addition to pollen. There is an effect that caffeine has on bees. Scientists have dropped caffeine into flowers that bees feed from. The bees will feed from these flowers with caffeine up until the point of running the pollen dry. The effect is so strong that the bees will choose caffeine induced plants with less pollen over higher pollen containing plants without caffeine. This presents an opportunity. Bee pollination naturally increases crop yields. Studies in Nature have shown up to 60% increases in crop yields of sesame and other staple crops when bee pollination is maximized. Maize is a crop commonly overlooked by bees. This is why micro doses of caffeine (not enough to affect the crop but enough to attract the bees) will be placed in the leaves of maize at the 1, 2 and 3 month mark during growth phases. The same will be done to the bambara leaves. It is predicted that the crop yield will be more similar to an increase to almonds (20% increase). This will result in 9,666 people receiving their protein RDA from the intercropped and caffeinated maize-bambara fields (an increase of 1,611).

The goal of this challenge is minimal inputs for maximum outputs and climate smart agriculture. Green manure, manure and compost will be used in replace of fertilizer here. The compost and manures will be fortified with zinc as zinc enhances maize and bambara yield. The natural fertilizers will be naturally rich in N,P and K due to the strategic assortment of compost used and the bambara will further fix nitrogen into the soil. The enzyme pods at planting (along with the two maize kernels in the maize hole and the bambara seed in the bambara hole) will be supplemented with another pod of N, P, K and zinc in slow release capsules that are activated by soil and water to give a slow release of nutrients in the soil over the growth period until the first round of natural fertilizer is applied at the 1 month mark. This natural fertilizer combination is estimated to increase protein content 5.5%.

Grafting allows trees to grow 10x faster (mango trees) and increase yields by 1-3x. Testing plots will be done grafting both maize and bambara to see how the stalk and leaf structure being grafted with a healthier, further along in the growth cycle shoot compares. This is intended to not only expedite the growth cycle and lead to harves 220% sooner, it also will lead to healthier, more fertile seeds to be collected as a seed bank to propagate for next season’s harvest. This grafting will be done with a twist. The shoots it will be grafted with will have been infused with nitrogen, zinc, phosphorus, potassium and enzymes enhancing amino acid growth. This will allow further injection of nutrients aimed at enhancing protein. The findings of this are unknown and theoretical proposed for the first time in this proposal. It is estimated that this can increase protein yield up to 45%.

Harvest

There is an innovative approach for harvesting in this proposal. It comes in the form of technological advancements in the harvester machine. The harvester will not turn the soil with the maize, it crushes the stalk while harvesting the cobbs. The roots stay put and when the crop dies, it has healthy green manure as soil cover and root systems that allow rainwater to seep deep into the soil. This harvester will leave pods behind with every stalk it cuts. These pods will contain enzymes, natural extracts of N, P, K and Z.

Post Harvest Handling

The harvest is taken to a facility on the farm where the maize is shucked and the bambara beans’ shells are removed. They are placed in one of two solutions containing N,P,K,Z and amino acids. One option is an aquatic solution with purified water at a neutral pH balance to induce the maximum protein absorption into the kernels and beans. This initiates the sprouting process as well to be soaked for 96 hours. The other option is a dry coating of powder that seeps into the kernel and bean over 72 hours. The room in which these dried seeds (beans and kernels) are stored is set in a gaseous environment circulating elevated levels of nitrogen. These solutions increase protein content by an estimated 34%.

The final end use determines which of these two options are selected. It also determines if the crops are milled or not. If milled, there is the option to fortify with protein. This can be done with protein extract powder of both maize and bambara and kept separately or it can be milled all together and included with other plant protein (pea protein isolate, for example).

Conclusion

This proposal combines theoretical advancements and proven agricultural methods that result in an elevated protein yield per hectare using innovative technology and climate smart agricultural practices. The summation of all of the protein enhancement strategies examined in this proposal transforms a baseline hectare of rice delivering 1,136 people their recommended daily allowance of protein into 19,813 people receiving their protein RDA from one hectare of coplanted bambara bean and maize (for reference, 2,430 people for maize). These results stem from practical and theoretical agricultural advancements along every step of the agricultural cycle: pre-harvest, growth, harvest and post-harvest.