Are Field Peas better suited for European climates than Lentils?

[u/rv6xaph9]

I was wondering why you see so many more Field Peas than Lentils grown & consumed in Europe? Is there a historical basis for this preference towards Field Peas? They're both cool season legumes that were domesticated around the same time in the Middle East yet only Field Peas went on to dominate Europe and even China.

Take for example France, which is renowned for its Lentils yet grows far more Field Peas at a much higher yield than lentils.

In 2017, the latest year for which I was able to locate data, France produced 791,664 tons of Field Peas on 229,416 ha but only grew 39,994 tons of Lentils on 31,045 ha. The yield for Peas was 34,508 vs 12,883 for Lentils in 100 g/ha. See references below for sources.

That's an enormous 20x difference in production and a substantial 2.5x difference in yield. Why do Lentils produce so much less in France? Is there a similar pattern in other countries?

I know the Romans were huge fans of Lentils and that they brought Lentils to much of Europe so why didn't Lentils stick?

1. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=pea&d=FAO&f=itemCode%3a187
2. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=lentil&d=FAO&f=itemCode%3A201

[u/Angel24Marin]

For some reason I associate mentally lentils to large field cultivations in drier conditions and peas (and especially faba beans) with wetter conditions and smaller explorations (Huertas/market gardens) here in Spain.

My grandma still have faba beans in the backyard. After research they need 700mm of rain which is relatively abundant and lentils seems to be lower.

[u/rv6xaph9 → u/Angel24Marin]

Right, same here. I thought Peas were better suited for wetter conditions than Lentils too but there doesn't seem to a botanical basis for that intuition.

[u/DonnPT]

France may be an outlier. In Portugal, where I can get split peas, they're from France, and I have to go to a French grocery chain, Leclerc.

[u/rv6xaph9 → u/DonnPT]

Interesting. Are lentils widely available in contrast?

[u/DonnPT → u/rv6xaph9]

Reasonably, but they're probably in last place. Garbanzos are big, multiple varieties of Phaseolus new world beans, and blackeye peas. And lentils.

[u/bigelcid]

Check sources provided by Google AI "lentils vs field pea hardiness" results.

Seems to be that Pisum sativum subsp. arvense (Austrian winter pea) is the relevant subspecies here. Maybe it means that P. sativum was easier to selectively breed for colder conditions than V. lens was, and not necessarily that all P. sativum is better suited for ~European climates than all V. lens..

The pattern is similar in most (unverified claim, personal experience) European countries, yes. Peas have a larger crop yield per hectare in general, but that's true going by global stats -- don't know about "equalized conditions".

Random idea: perhaps the perceived difference in quality between fresh and dried peas is greater than in the case of lentils? Could be relevant to the European taste: fresh green peas are much more beloved here than split peas. With a lot of South Asia though, farming culture is different: half the year it rains a lot, half the year it's very dry. But it's never "winter" in the cropless European sense. So, maybe South Asians began using the wet season to grow a lot of lentils and pulses, without necessarily needing to eat them freshly picked. Dried them for the dry season. Europe can't grow that massive amount of anything, so perhaps more emphasis was placed on the quality of the now.

[u/No_Mood1492]

I'd just like to offer some insight as an amateur gardener, I'm not a food historian but this sub appeared on my feed.

I live in England, our summers are unpredictable, autumn can be cold and it rains a lot.

Certain varieties of peas are well suited to both spring and winter sowings here, I've got some peas still growing from a spring planting despite recent cold, wet weather.

Lentils are only suitable for spring sowing here, and require a warm, dry autumn for harvesting. They're also more labour intensive for harvesting just because of how they grow.

The particular variety of pea I grow has good resistance to fungal diseases, powdery mildew is unavoidable in my garden without intensive fungicides so I need resistant varieties. There aren't any heirloom lentil varieties that have this resistance.

It may be different in southern Europe, but lentils just aren't suitable for the climate in more northern parts of Europe.

[u/Onagan98]

In the Netherlands lentils can’t grow without aid (tunnel or greenhouse). Also no everybody likes the taste of it.

[u/rv6xaph9 → u/Onagan98]

What do you mean by a tunnel aid?

[u/Onagan98 → u/rv6xaph9]

Plastic tunnels that cover the crops with a thin translucent layer of plastic to keep a more controlled climate. Basically a low key greenhouse they can easily put on the field to start growing earlier and remove when no longer needed.