Legumes are regarded as special plants in agriculture due to their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. They are an important component of farming system since they have high nutritive value and able to rehabilitate nutrient depleted soil. Legumes also improve the nutritive value of the low quality native pastures grown with them. Nitrogen fixation takes place in the nodules that are small swellings on the roots of leguminous plants in association with bacteria known as rhizobia or Frankia. Rhizobia are gram-negative bacteria that fix nitrogen by forming nodules on the roots of the legume plants. Therefore, inclusion of legume plants into farming systems provide farmers with the capacity to diversify their production systems and are an integral part of strategies to intensify animal production.

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