This integrated collection describes the importance of forage legumes for pasture development and improvement in the tropics and subtropics. Leading agronomists review the magnitude of the need for pasture improvement; tropical and subtropical soil and climate environments; reports of the successful use of legumes in pasture development in a wet and a dry tropical environment; and the scope of the problem in terms of area to be developed and development logistics required. Three legume genera, Centrosema, Desmodium, and Stylosanthes, are discussed in detail--information is presented on taxonomy, adaptation, distribution, productivity, and usefulness--and considerable emphasis is placed on Rhizobium germplasm resources for these genera. A concluding section of technical essays addresses special considerations in using tropical legumes in pasture development and presents a coordinated multidisciplinary approach to legume exploration and evaluation.

Biological nitrogen fixation in tropical agrosystems: twenty years of biological nitrogen fixation research in Africa; Sustainable agriculture: definition and measurement; Biological nitrogen fixation systems in tropical ecosystems: an overview; A protocol for screening legumes as soil-improving crops; The sustenance of tropical agriculture with multipurpose azolla; Facteurs pedoclimatiques limitant la lixation biologique l'azole; Response of some tropical nitrogen-fixing woody legumes to drought and inoculation with mycorrhiza; Improvement to the Phaseolus/Rhizobium symbiosis, with particular reference to the Caribbean region; Effect of pest management systems on biological nitrogen fixation; Agronomic evaluation of a rock phosphate as a phosphorus source for Leucaena leucocephala grown on an utisol; Nodulation of soybean grown under field conditions and inoculated with Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains; Effect of fertilization and Rhizobium inoculation on the growth of Leucaena and Gliricidia on an alfisol in south-western Nigeria; Early growth and nodulation in Leucaena and Gliricidia and the effects or pruning on biomass productivity; Comparative stude on the growth and productivity of Sesbania and Leucaena in the Central Plateau region, Rwanda; Supernoculation and non-nodulation mutants of soybean; Genetically improved rhizobia and their use in agriculture; Sustainability of nitrogen-fixing cropping systems: Nodulation and nitrogen fixation and transfer in a cowpea/rice cropping system; The role of legumes in sustaiing soil productivity and controlling soil erosion; Fitting soil-improving legumes into inland valley rice-baes cropping systems in West Africa; Herbage yield and soil fertility restoration potential of some tropical forage legumes.

Published in association with the International Herbage Seed Production Research Group, this volume and its companion provide the definitive resource for anyone involved in the breeding and commercial production of grass and legume seeds, whether for grazing systems, horticulture or recreation.

Diretorio de colecao de germoplasma de forragem, onde um total de 386.530 acessos de germoplasma sao documentados, cobrindo 397 generos de planta e 3.715 especies. A colecao documentada e mantida por 189 instituicoes em 73 paises.