University of Warwick harvests beans fit for British summer

Prof Eric Holub, pictured with Warwick Crop Centre research fellow Dr Rosanne Maguire, said seed was being harvested to produce food on a farm next year

University researchers have celebrated the first commercial harvest of a homegrown bean.

The UK has traditionally had to import most of its beans used in products due to growing conditions.

However scientists at the University of Warwick have been working to create a variety that could be planted by British farmers.

The first commercial crops of the Godiva and Olivia beans have been grown by a private firm in Lincolnshire.

They are in the second year of trials and the university's harvest of seeds from this year will be used by a farmer to grow crops of Godiva and Olivia next summer.

The names of the new varieties have been inspired by the University's Warwickshire connections.

Godiva, a blonde-coloured kidney-sized bean, takes its name from 11th Century Coventry noblewoman Lady Godiva, while Olivia - a dry, black bean - is named after Shakespeare's character in Twelfth Night.

Godiva is a blonde-coloured bean, named after Lady Godiva

Prof Eric Holub, from the University of Warwick, said the project was moving from the realms of research into commercialisation.

Speaking at the university's Warwick Crop Centre in Wellesbourne, the professor of plant genetics said: "It's commercialisation, but the most important part of the research is working with some communities.

"We're working with some local cooks and bakers. We've been doing this for a couple of years now.

"So we have harvested with [a local farmer] in the past and all that's been donated as research material with people that cook and eat.

"We're excited now because we want to go that next step and actually bring the seed commercialisation into actual food sales."

He added the beans had been developed, alongside a navy variety named Capulet, to "grow and thrive in a British summer", unlike many of their US counterparts.

The university's Warwick Crop Centre is based in Wellesbourne