Legumes are members of the family Fabaceae or Leguminosae and include economically important grain legumes, oilseed crops, forage crops, shrubs, and tropical or subtropical trees. Legumes are a rich source of quality protein for humans and animals. They also enrich the soil by producing their own nitrogen in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. International centers and national institutes ...

Agriculturally grown plants are potentially contaminated with poisonous weeds. Many potentially toxic plants are found in pastures and crops. Consequently, forage crops at harvest or when directly grazed may contain toxic amounts of poisonous plants. Unfortunately, efficient prevention of contamination with certain poisonous plants is not always feasible or practical, and thus, contaminated fee...

Alfalfa is one of the most important legume forage crops in the world. In spite of its agronomic and nutritive advantages, alfalfa has some limitations in the usage of pasture forage and hay supplement. High rapid degradation of protein in alfalfa poses a risk of rumen bloat to ruminants which could cause huge economic losses for farmers. Coupled with the relatively high lignin content, which i...

Lepidopteran stemborers and parasitic weeds in the genus Striga are major constraints to efficient production of cereals, the most important staple food crops in Africa. Smallholder farmers are resource constrained and unable to afford expensive chemicals for crop protection. Development of a push-pull approach for integrated pest and weed management is reviewed here. Appropriate plants were di...

Forage legumes have a relatively high biomass yield and crude protein content, but their grazed and harvested biomass lacks the high-energy carbohydrates required to meet the productivity potential of modern livestock breeds. Because of their low carbohydrate content, forage legume diets are typically supplemented with starch rich cereal grains or maize (Zea mays), leading to the disruption of ...

Forage crops contribute diversity and buffer agronomic risk in water-limited cropping systems. Knowledge of growth responses to uncertain water supply can help guide crop selection management—including timing harvest. Our research objective was determine use forage winter triticale sorghum under rainfed conditions.