Adoption of tropical forage legume technology around the world: analysis of success

1. Examples of successful adoption of forage leg- umes are reported from all continents, where they delivered profi tability and often provided multi- purpose benefi ts to farmers. 2. Factors vital to successful adoption were: meeting the needs of farmers; building relevant partner- ships; understanding the socio- economic context and skills of farmers; partici patory involvement with rural communities; and long-term involve- ment of champions. 3. Organisation of seed supply, achieving scale-up and forming partnerships to implement adoption are key features. 4. Legumes remain an important but under-exploited resource for tropical farming systems. The alter- native to legumes will be greater and more costly use of N-fertilisers and purchased protein concen- trates. 5. The R&D organisations will need to provide long- term support and greater investment for legume technologies to deliver benefi ts to farmers. Support will be needed for training and education programs to overcome declining availability of forage legume expertise and lack of awareness of oppor tunity for use of tropical forage legumes

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