Track 3-3-1: Sustainable Use of Tropical vis‐a‐vis Temperate Grasslands
Description
Grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is a an important legume crop grown in India, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Nepal, and Pakistan for human food, animal feed and soil health improvement. In India, grasspea is grown in about 521,100 ha, mainly in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa, Assam, West Bengal, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Grasspea cultivation is low-cost and easy. Inherently grasspea possesses resistance to drought, excess moisture, salinity, diseases, and insect pests. As grasspea has an ambivalent reputation due to ODAP content in its plant parts, efforts are on to develop low or ODAP-free grasspea varieties with high biomass for dual purpose for human food and animal feed. A number of such varieties are now available in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Ethiopia. Grasspea is known as excellent feed and fodder crop for centuries as a main concentrate for horses (Anonymous, 1894). Livestock is a key component of farming systems in South Asia and in Africa, and most particularly with small and marginal farmers, estimated about 678 million, and indicates importance of livestock to their livelihoods (ILRI, 2000).
Included in
Grasspea: A Potential Fodder and Feed Resources
Grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is a an important legume crop grown in India, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Nepal, and Pakistan for human food, animal feed and soil health improvement. In India, grasspea is grown in about 521,100 ha, mainly in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa, Assam, West Bengal, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Grasspea cultivation is low-cost and easy. Inherently grasspea possesses resistance to drought, excess moisture, salinity, diseases, and insect pests. As grasspea has an ambivalent reputation due to ODAP content in its plant parts, efforts are on to develop low or ODAP-free grasspea varieties with high biomass for dual purpose for human food and animal feed. A number of such varieties are now available in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Ethiopia. Grasspea is known as excellent feed and fodder crop for centuries as a main concentrate for horses (Anonymous, 1894). Livestock is a key component of farming systems in South Asia and in Africa, and most particularly with small and marginal farmers, estimated about 678 million, and indicates importance of livestock to their livelihoods (ILRI, 2000).
