EN
The area of legumes in Poland and European Union has not changed for the last decade. It covers 140-150 and 1200-1400 thousand hectares in Poland and in the EU, respectively. More than half of legumes sown area is covered by pea, whereas the area of faba bean and lupine is significantly smaller. The profitability of legumes cultivation in Poland is about 50% lower than in the EU countries, due to direct surcharges to seed production in these countries. Legume species cultivated in our climatic zone play a significant role as raw material of high protein content in production of concentrated feeds and as a valuable element of the human diet. Seeds of these species cover the demands on raw materials of high protein content at 12-14% in our country, while in the EU countries at about 7-8%. Considering a very big deficit of protein crops for feed production both in Poland and in the European Union, there are possibilities to extend the cultivation area of grain legumes.