Leguminous crop plays an important role in improving soil fertility in agriculture. They are cheap producers of fodder, rich in protein and nitrogenous compounds used to feed with livestock. All green plants produce carbohydrates by utilization of Co2, water and sunlight by the process of photosynthesis. But in cultivation of leguminous crops, they only have the additional capacity of directly drawing huge amount of atmospheric nitrogen and stored in it’s specially structure called root nodules. They are converted or transformed into highly valuable crude protein, are as necessary as livestock feed. When the plant roots, stubbles and leaves are left in soil, the release nitrogen and utilized by the succeeding crops called legume effect.
Production of leguminous forage crops and their uses on improving soil fertilitywillbecome one of the best agricultural practices.Legume species are important supplements for livestock and at times completely replace purchased feeds if used properly. There are many legumes species commonly used for fodder purposes. Balanced nutrition has to be one of the most important factors limitingruminant production in the traditional smallholder. The potential way for increasing thequality and availability of fodder for smallholder ruminant animals may bethrough the use of legumes. Leguminous fodder can be added into livestock feed for increase the milk production and SNF content. It can be mixed with regular green fodder at 1:7 as cattle feed.
Nutritional statusof fodder Legumes
Protein content in legumefoddercontains of both soluble and insoluble components can be used as animportant source of nitrogen for increased rumen microbial activity and by-pass protein forsupplying amino acids to the lower gut of the livestock. In addition to that, legume fodder is an important source of minerals such as sulphur,calcium, copper. The other advantage of using fodder legumes as a sourceof feed for ruminant animals is that supplementation of forages up to about 35 percentage.
- Fodder Cowpea(Vignaungiculata): (Duration: 60-70 days)
It is a short duration fodder, indeterminate plant with luxurious growth,suitable for intercropping systemand widely spaced planting crops. It can be intercropped with deep rooted cotton, red gram and castor, because initial growth rate of this crop is slow. It is also suitable for intercropping with red sorghum and maize. It can be harvested for green fodder at 55 DAS.Green fodder is highly palatable which contains 20% of protein, 2-3% fat,1.5% calcium, and 1.4% phosphorus. It has high leaf stem ratio.
Co(FC) 8 is an improvedvariety has high green fodder yield of 8-9tonnes per acre, can be cultivated throughout the year under irrigated condition.Under rainfed condition it produces 5-6 tonnes of green fodder per acre.Potential yield of 9.2 tonnes of green fodder per acre was produced under cotton+ fodder cowpea intercropping system of 1:3 ratio.
2. Moth bean(Vignaaconitifolia):(Duration: 65-70 days)
It is important leguminous crop of arid and semi arid regions of Tamil Nadu. Itis drought resistant, multi-uses pulse crop. It is a rabi crop (Nov-Dec), high fodder yield with high protein content suitable for dry fodderunder mixed cropping system with red sorghum. Pure crop yields 1.3 tonnes ofdry fodder per acre.
TMV(mb)-1 is variety released fromTindivanam Research Station, TNAU, TamilNadu.It produced high fodder yield and high protein content of 24.8%. It is early maturing moderately resistant to pod borer and YMV disease. It is suitable for mixed and intercropping system.
Normally, moth bean has mixed cropped with red sorghum, harvested along with sorghum straw and stored as dry fodder to feed to livestock during summer.
Green fodder contains6-10%crude protein,6-8%crude fiber, 1-2%fat, and 1160 kcal/kg of energy.
3. Pillipesara (Vignatrilobata): (Duration 70 days)
It is leguminous crop extensively cultivated in Andhra Pradesh and suitable to cultivate all type of soils. It is drought resistant, short duration, dual purpose crop.Grain is palatable, very small and dark green in colour, used for culinary purposes. Fodder yield is less compared to fodder cowpea and moth bean.
Initially slow growing, it will take 6-8 days to germinate. Capable of producing root nodules and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Numbers of root nodules are lesser the fodder cowpea. 1.2 ton of green fodder yield can be obtained from one acre when raised as a sole crop. Nutritive value of green fodder is 4-8% ofcrude protein,3-6% of crude fibre, 0.5-1.5% of fat and 710 kcal/kgof energy.
4.Horse gram(Macrotylomauniflorum): (Duration:100-105 days)
Paiyur 2- It is high yielding varieties than other horse gram varieties. It is valuable green fodder crop and yield can obtainaround one ton per hectare when harvested at 60-65 DAS. It can usedas a dry fodder along with other forages. Farmers can cultivate as groundnut-horsegram, gingelly- horsegram cropping sequences under rainfed condition. It contains 4-5% crude protein, 6% crude fiber, 087% of fat and 819 kcal/ kg of energy.
5. Alfalfa or Lucerne(Medicago sativa):(Duration: First cut -55-60 DAS)
It is drought resistant and moderately salt resistant legume fodder crop. It is a multi-cut crop and its deep root system fixes atmospheric nitrogen which improves the soil fertility. It has crude protein ranges from 20-24%. Sowing starts at second week of November, and the first green forage harvest will be 55-60 DAS. Subsequent cuts will be at a 45 days interval. It can make possible upto5-6 harvest per year.Apart from protein, it is rich in calcium, phosphorous and minerals. It contains low fiber and high digestibility.
Benefits of feeding leguminous fodder:
· High in energy, calcium and other minerals such as sulphur, copper, leads to increase conception rate.
· Excellent source of amino acids and protein.
· Contains important vitamins B,C, D, E and K.
· Highly digestible and palatable.
· Increased livestock longevity.
M. Daisy, K. Senthilkumar and M. Arul Prakash
Krishi Vigyan Kendra
VC and RI campus, Namakkal-637002
