In the picture: peas and beans intercrop at the Allerton Project at different times of the season.

The following case story is provided by our customer The GWCT Allerton Project. With the help of Gasmet’s FTIR gas analyser, researchers measure multiple soil gases simultaneously across a range of trial sites to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings associated with climate smart legume and pulse cropping. 

The Nitrogen Efficient Plants for Climate Smart Arable Cropping Systems (NCS), funded through Innovate UK on behalf of the Defra Farming Innovation Programme, is a four-year, £5.9 million national research initiative involving around 200 UK farms and a consortium of 17 partners across academia, industry and farming networks. NCS aims to increase the share of pulses and legumes in UK arable rotations from roughly 5% to 20%, reducing reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers while expanding the supply of home-grown protein feed. By replacing imported soya meal with domestic legume-based feed and making better use of the nitrogen fixing ability of these crops, the project seeks to cut approximately 3.4 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year, delivering significant cost savings and sustainability gains across both crop and livestock systems.

As a project partner, The Allerton Project has contributed to the first two years of work by bringing our expertise in on farm trials and soil gas emission monitoring. Using the Gasmet DX4040 FTIR analyser (a predecessor of GT5000 Terra), we are able to measure multiple soil gases simultaneously across a range of trial sites to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings associated with legume and pulse cropping. In 2024, the first year of our trial evaluated the feasibility of bi-cropping spring peas with spring oats, compared to spring oats, spring peas on their own, or our farm standard legume of spring beans.  In 2025 we examined the impact of available nitrogen on the following crop of winter wheat, along with the wider environmental benefits of including pulses. Greenhouse gas emissions, particularly nitrous oxide (N₂O), were measured throughout the two years of the experiment to assess emissions reductions from pulse-based systems.

The Gasmet DX4040 in a field of beans

The portable design of the Gasmet system enabled us to carry out measurements at partner farms, expanding the geographic and soil-type coverage of the project and providing a more representative understanding of GHG dynamics.  Over the last two years we have been visiting PGRO’s trial sites, evaluating the GHG emissions of winter beans, spring beans winter wheat / winter bean intercrop and a comparison winter wheat plot. PGRO are collecting data on soil health and nitrogen supply following different legumes helping build a picture of how legumes influence rotations.

While our initial data has not shown a consistent pattern of N₂O reduction across legume treatments, this is likely due to the highly variable weather conditions experienced during the 2024–2025 seasons. With two years of the NCS project still to run, and with the opportunity to draw on historical datasets collected across the consortium, we are confident that the programme will deliver robust evidence on the soil health and environmental benefits of increasing legumes within UK rotations.

Pea and beans at harvest pre-separation, and harvesting the plot trials at the Allerton Project 

The Gasmet analyser will continue to be used to generate real farm data for the NCS and other Allerton Project research. These direct field measurements ensure that project aims and outcomes are guided by reliable science, supporting accurate quantification of agricultural emissions and helping to drive their continued reduction.

To find out more about the NCS project, please visit Nitrogen Climate Smart (NCS) Home Page – The NCS Project

For the latest updates from the project partners, and more information about pulse research, please visit the pulse PEP website: Pulse PEP | FarmPEP

 

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