**2. Forage legumes in livestock production**

India has the largest livestock population in the world with more than 512 million heads. It supports 56.7% of the world's buffaloes, 12.5% of the world's cattle and 20.4% of the world's small ruminants (sheep and goats) [1]. Besides, the country hosts 17% of the world human population [2]. India is also the leading milk producing country in the world but milk productivity per animal basis is very low. Deficiency in quality of fodder is one of the major reasons for the low animal productivity. Although India is very rich in varied flora and fauna but there is deficiency of quality green fodder to the tune of around 35%. The animals need proper feeding to meet their nutrient requirement to express their full genetic production potential.

In fact, the sustenance of Indian rural agricultural economy depends on crop and animal farming, the two key components of a mixed farming system. Although the contribution of agricultural sector in the Indian economy is steadily declining (from 36.4% in 1982–1983 to 14.1% in 2012–2013), it still contributes employment to over 50% of the work force [3]. The contribution of livestock sector to agriculture GDP has increased to more than 28% and is likely to increase further. In the recent past, the lifestyle of people has been changed with a marked shift in food habits towards milk, milk products and meat leading to increase in demand of livestock products. Economic scenario in animal husbandry is also changing with emergence of peri-urban livestock farming and fodder markets. This indicates the huge pressure on available land, most of which, is used for arable farming and food production.

Forages form the main stay of our animal farming to reduce the competition between human beings and animals due to increasing demand for land and other inputs. Sole feeding of green forages to dairy animals is much cheaper than feeding concentrates with crop residues and has the potential of higher level of milk production. Nearly 65% of the total expenditure of milk production in cows is attributed to the feeding of animals when both concentrates and green fodders are fed as mixed ration. When the milk production is primarily depend upon concentrate based feeding, the cost of feeding towards milk production reaches to 80%, however, in case of forage (legumes) based feeding, it is reduced to only 40% of the total expenditure [4]. Hence, any attempt towards enhancing availability of quality green fodder, and economizing the feed cost would result in better remuneration to livestock farmers/producers.

**1. Introduction**

124 Forage Groups

Cultivated forage legumes and range legumes are contributing in sustainable agriculture production apart from nutritional security to the livestock population of India. Cultivated forage legumes and range legumes are also crucial for the nutritional security for mankind as they are integral component for increased availability of animal protein and product which has higher biological value than the plant proteins. The major fodder legumes crops cultivated in India are *Medicago sativa*, *Trifolium alexandrinum*, *Vigna unguiculata*, *Mucuna pruriens*, *Vigna umbellate* and range legumes are *Stylosanthes* spp., *Desmanthus virgatus*, *Clitoria ternatea* and others. Among these, *Medicago sativa*, *Trifolium alexandrinum* and *Vigna unguiculata* are more popular among cultivated legumes and *Stylosanthes* in range legumes because of easy availability of seeds of improved varieties and well developed technology to increase the forage yield and quality. To understand the current status and scope of tropical forage legumes of India for sustaining income through livestock sector, their importance in livestock production, soil health and ecosystem services and diversity among germplasms, evaluation and

India has the largest livestock population in the world with more than 512 million heads. It supports 56.7% of the world's buffaloes, 12.5% of the world's cattle and 20.4% of the world's small ruminants (sheep and goats) [1]. Besides, the country hosts 17% of the world human population [2]. India is also the leading milk producing country in the world but milk productivity per animal basis is very low. Deficiency in quality of fodder is one of the major reasons for the low animal productivity. Although India is very rich in varied flora and fauna but there is deficiency of quality green fodder to the tune of around 35%. The animals need proper feeding to meet their nutrient requirement to express their full genetic production potential. In fact, the sustenance of Indian rural agricultural economy depends on crop and animal farming, the two key components of a mixed farming system. Although the contribution of agricultural sector in the Indian economy is steadily declining (from 36.4% in 1982–1983 to 14.1% in 2012–2013), it still contributes employment to over 50% of the work force [3]. The contribution of livestock sector to agriculture GDP has increased to more than 28% and is likely to increase further. In the recent past, the lifestyle of people has been changed with a marked shift in food habits towards milk, milk products and meat leading to increase in demand of livestock products. Economic scenario in animal husbandry is also changing with emergence of peri-urban livestock farming and fodder markets. This indicates the huge pressure on available land, most of which, is used for arable farming and food production.

Forages form the main stay of our animal farming to reduce the competition between human beings and animals due to increasing demand for land and other inputs. Sole feeding of green forages to dairy animals is much cheaper than feeding concentrates with crop residues and has the potential of higher level of milk production. Nearly 65% of the total expenditure of milk

breeding for improved varieties are discussed in this chapter.

**2. Forage legumes in livestock production**

From an animal perspective, one of the largest benefits provided by legume forages is that they provide a better level of nutrition than cereal forages/grasses at a similar stage of growth, leading to greater forage intake by livestock and increased animal performance. The symbiosis between legumes and Rhizobia provides the plant with an ample supply of N and it is one of the reasons why crude protein (CP) concentrations of legumes are higher than cereals/grasses. In addition to higher concentrations of CP, forage legumes also provide a higher quality protein which may be of equal or greater importance in case of non-ruminant livestock species like equines. Legumes also contain more concentrations of digestible energy than grass/cereal forages due to the structure and development of the legume cell wall. Indeed, the cell wall of legume plants contains fewer hemicelluloses and more pectin compared to that of cereals, thus increasing their digestibility by livestock. However as the cell matures, a secondary cell wall consisting of cellulose and lignin is deposited on the interior of the primary cell wall and reduces the overall availability of the structural carbohydrates in the digestive system. In cereal forages, this phenomenon occurs in all tissues types (i.e. leaves, stems, etc.) while being primarily restricted to the vascular tissues of legume stems. The lignin of non-legumes is also more esterified to hemicelluloses and is more recalcitrant in composition (e.g. higher proportion of syringyl subunits) indicating a more suppressed degradability than in legume species.
