**Description:**
– Centrosema pubescens is a perennial herb with a height of 45cm.
– Its root system can reach up to 30cm in depth.
– Stems do not become woody until about 18 months after planting.
– The leaves are trifoliate, dark-green above and whitish below.
– Flowers are generally pale violet with darker violet veins.
**Uses:**
– Widely used as forage and protein source for grazing cattle.
– Grown as a cover crop to suppress weeds and tolerate drought.
– Suitable for intercropping with grasses to increase cattle diet protein.
– Leaves can be used as a cheap protein source for broiler chickens.
– Provides calcium and potassium for animals.
**Growing Conditions:**
– Propagated by seed and grows well in various soil types.
– Thrives in wet and humid soils with pH between 4.9-5.5.
– Endures soils with high manganese levels.
– Requires rainfall ranging from 800mm to 1700mm per year.
– Ripens unevenly, making mechanical harvesting difficult.
**Cultivation:**
– Seeds have mechanical dormancy broken by soaking in water.
– Inoculated with Rhizobium and planted with a no-till planter.
– Promising forage to enhance livestock feed protein content.
– Does not require special technology or equipment for planting.
– Seed rate varies based on broadcasting or intercropping with grasses.
**Stress Tolerance:**
– Produces optimal yields in fertile soils but can grow in poor nutrient soils.
– Highly drought tolerant due to deep root system.
– Adapts to drought by dropping leaves.
– Endures waterlogging, flooding, and shade.
– Yield not affected by acid or high aluminum soils.
**Weeds, Pests, and Diseases:**
– Suppresses weeds by creating a dense ground cover.
– Grass and Centrosema combination is effective against weeds.
– Pests include meloidae beetles, thrips, and caterpillars.
– Few major attacks by diseases, such as leaf spot and anthracnose.
– Solutions include slashing and spot treatment for pests and pathogens.