Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya

The availability of high-quality forage is a major limitation to livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Integrating resilient, high-yielding forage legumes into mixed farming systems offers a practical approach to addressing seasonal shortages especially crude protein. In the current study, w...

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Autores principales: Karimi, Peggy, Mutuku, Joseph, Mwendia, Solomon, Odhiambo, Ruth, Muruu, David, Peters, Michael
Formato: Póster
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176884
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author Karimi, Peggy
Mutuku, Joseph
Mwendia, Solomon
Odhiambo, Ruth
Muruu, David
Peters, Michael
author_browse Karimi, Peggy
Muruu, David
Mutuku, Joseph
Mwendia, Solomon
Odhiambo, Ruth
Peters, Michael
author_facet Karimi, Peggy
Mutuku, Joseph
Mwendia, Solomon
Odhiambo, Ruth
Muruu, David
Peters, Michael
author_sort Karimi, Peggy
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The availability of high-quality forage is a major limitation to livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Integrating resilient, high-yielding forage legumes into mixed farming systems offers a practical approach to addressing seasonal shortages especially crude protein. In the current study, we evaluated the agronomic performance of 4 forage legumes including three Lablab purpureus lines and one Crotalaria spp. Two Lablab purpureus varieties namely, Jhansi (ILRI accession No. 6529) and Highworth (ILRI accession No. 147) were obtained from International Livestock Research Institute gene bank in Addis Ababa while Lablab cv Maridadi, currently grown by farmers was used as a check. Three contrasting agroecological zones in Kenya were selected including, lower highland (LH3), upper midland (UM2) and lower midland 1(UM1). The trial design was Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD). Data on plant height and dry matter (DM) yield were collected over two seasons. Plant height varied significantly between species, sites, and seasons. Crotalaria juncea consistently attained the tallest plants across all locations. The average plant height for Crotalaria juncea ranged from 1.28 m – 1.45 m. Lablab varieties exhibited plant heights ranging between 0.50 m – 0.85 m. Differences in plant height among lablab accessions were not statistically significant. Dry matter yield was also influenced by both site and season. Crotalaria juncea accumulated 7.92 t ha-1 at lower midland 1 and 14.32 t ha-1 in upper midland 2. Significant differences between lablab ILRI 147 and ILRI 6529 were observed with highest yields at upper midland 2, with ILRI 147 accumulating 20.23 t ha-1 over the two years. Consistently, Lablab cv Maridadi had the lowest yields across sites and seasons, with a cumulative value of 8.27 t ha-1 recorded at the upper midland 2 site. The high dry matter production of ILRI 147 and ILRI 6529 at lower midland sites highlights the potential of these in semi-arid conditions. Integrating these legumes into smallholder systems could significantly enhance quality feed resources and contribute to more sustainable livestock production in Kenya and similar regions.
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spelling CGSpace1768842025-11-05T12:09:28Z Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya Karimi, Peggy Mutuku, Joseph Mwendia, Solomon Odhiambo, Ruth Muruu, David Peters, Michael agroecology agroecología semi-arid zones leguminosa forrajera feed legumes-forage legumes animal nutrition nutrición animal zona árida-zonas secas The availability of high-quality forage is a major limitation to livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Integrating resilient, high-yielding forage legumes into mixed farming systems offers a practical approach to addressing seasonal shortages especially crude protein. In the current study, we evaluated the agronomic performance of 4 forage legumes including three Lablab purpureus lines and one Crotalaria spp. Two Lablab purpureus varieties namely, Jhansi (ILRI accession No. 6529) and Highworth (ILRI accession No. 147) were obtained from International Livestock Research Institute gene bank in Addis Ababa while Lablab cv Maridadi, currently grown by farmers was used as a check. Three contrasting agroecological zones in Kenya were selected including, lower highland (LH3), upper midland (UM2) and lower midland 1(UM1). The trial design was Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD). Data on plant height and dry matter (DM) yield were collected over two seasons. Plant height varied significantly between species, sites, and seasons. Crotalaria juncea consistently attained the tallest plants across all locations. The average plant height for Crotalaria juncea ranged from 1.28 m – 1.45 m. Lablab varieties exhibited plant heights ranging between 0.50 m – 0.85 m. Differences in plant height among lablab accessions were not statistically significant. Dry matter yield was also influenced by both site and season. Crotalaria juncea accumulated 7.92 t ha-1 at lower midland 1 and 14.32 t ha-1 in upper midland 2. Significant differences between lablab ILRI 147 and ILRI 6529 were observed with highest yields at upper midland 2, with ILRI 147 accumulating 20.23 t ha-1 over the two years. Consistently, Lablab cv Maridadi had the lowest yields across sites and seasons, with a cumulative value of 8.27 t ha-1 recorded at the upper midland 2 site. The high dry matter production of ILRI 147 and ILRI 6529 at lower midland sites highlights the potential of these in semi-arid conditions. Integrating these legumes into smallholder systems could significantly enhance quality feed resources and contribute to more sustainable livestock production in Kenya and similar regions. 2025-09-11 2025-10-08T10:03:01Z 2025-10-08T10:03:01Z Poster https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176884 en Open Access application/pdf Karimi, P.; Mutuku, J.; Mwendia, S.; Odhiambo, R.; Muruu, D.; Peters, M. (2025) Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya. Presented for Tropentag 2025 Conference on 10-12 September 2025, in Bonn (Germany). 1 p.
spellingShingle agroecology
agroecología
semi-arid zones
leguminosa forrajera
feed legumes-forage legumes
animal nutrition
nutrición animal
zona árida-zonas secas
Karimi, Peggy
Mutuku, Joseph
Mwendia, Solomon
Odhiambo, Ruth
Muruu, David
Peters, Michael
Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya
title Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya
title_full Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya
title_fullStr Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya
title_short Performance of Crotalaria Juncea and Lablab purpureus in three agro-ecologies of Kenya
title_sort performance of crotalaria juncea and lablab purpureus in three agro ecologies of kenya
topic agroecology
agroecología
semi-arid zones
leguminosa forrajera
feed legumes-forage legumes
animal nutrition
nutrición animal
zona árida-zonas secas
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176884
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