It deals with an international campaign to raise awareness of its benefits and promote its production and trade, besides encouraging new and more intelligent uses in all the food chain for their protein content and its health benefits.
Legumes are important crops for food security of a good part of world population, above all in Latin America, Africa and Asia, where they are part of traditional diets, said the director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),José Graziano da Silva.
That product, including all types of beans and dry peas are a cheap, delicious and very nutritive in vital proteins and micronutrients source of health and nutrition of persons, above all in developing countries,
he added.
A communique of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, read in his name during the ceremony of presentation, expresses that legumes may contribute significantly to treat hunger, food security, malnutrition, environmental challenges and human health.
According to FAO there are hundreds of varieties of legumes all over the world and says the most popular of its dry bean varieties like the haricot beans, Lima beans and little beans, besides chick peas and coupes.
Graziano da Silva underlined the fixing nitrogen properties of legumes
that can improve soil fertility, increasing at the same time the productivity of arable lands, which also raises productivity of the lands and eliminates dependency on synthetic fertilizers.
Such conditions lead to a lesser trail of carbon and, indirectly, to less emission of greenhouse gases, he assured.
The last international years have been dedicated to soils, family agriculture and the quinoa.
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