2025/01/01 by Patrice Pierre, Pierre, Patrice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Agriculture and Rural Development Research #Approche globale #Autonomie protéique #Global approach #Legumes #Livestock systems #Légumineuses #Protein autonomy #Systèmes d’élevage
paper · pdf · doi:10.17180/ciag-2025-vol99-art25
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/02/09 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
The agronomic and zootechnical benefits of forage and seed legumes are not questioned by livestock farmers, particularly with regard to their contribution to protein forage autonomy. However, they show different trajectories in terms of their uses in livestock systems. While annual or short-term legumes show real progress in cover crops such as meslin or catch crops dedicated to building up fodder stocks in response to hazards, perennial legumes such as alfalfa are struggling to regain their former contribution. This is due to a variety of obstacles expressed by livestock farmers, such as the impact of work on the fodder system linked to the introduction of alfalfa, which disrupts its deployment in livestock farming. Similarly, obstacles relating to the agronomic management of seed legumes such as lupin or faba bean counterbalance their zootechnical benefits. These elements show the importance of developing a global approach (soil, animal, system) in our strategies for developing fodder and seed legumes in livestock systems.