Contribution of Climate-Smart Forage and Fodder Production for Sustainable Livestock Production and Environment: Lessons and Challenges from Ethiopia

Table 1

List of forage species that are best for Ethiopia’s lowland agroecologies.

Forage species	Adaptation (altitudes)	Nutritional contents (%)
Perennial grass species		DM	CP	CF	GE
Bracharia grass (Brachiaria brizantha)	Low to high altitude	31.5	10.4	33.5	18.2
Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum)	Low to mid altitude	17.9	9.7	36.1	17.4
Desho grass (Pennisetum pedicellate)	Low to mid altitude	31.5	6.3	40.9	18.1
Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris)	Low to mid altitude	30.1	7.1	40.2	18.3
Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana)	Low to mid altitude	24.9	9	36.9	18.3
Annual legumes species
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)	High to low altitude	96.6	18.3	28.6	18.0
Lablab (Lablab purpureus)	Mid to low altitude	22.1	18.4	28.2	18.2
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)	High to low altitude	20.9	18.1	24.1	18.1
Green leaf desmodium (Desmodium interim)	Mid to low altitude	24.2	15.5	30.6	18.9
Silver leaf desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum)	Mid to low altitude	25.7	15.1	32.1	18.6

DM: dry matter; CP: crude protein; CF: crude fiber; GE: gross energy. Source: [76–83].