The major limiting factor to livestock production in dry areas is inadequate feed supply. A severe shortage in feed resources occurs when growing seasons are constrained by low rainfall. Prolonged periods of drought with intermittent and inadequate rainfall affect the land and livelihoods of millions of resource-poor farmers throughout Central and West Asia and North Africa. Vetch, a versatile forage legume can help. It is good for the soil, good for livestock, and ultimately good for the farmers who must eke a living from drought-prone areas.

In the past two decades, ICARDA has recognized and begun to capitalize on the great value of forage legumes, such as vetch (Vicia spp.), as an essential component of sustainable dryland farming systems. They are a good potential source of feed for the rapidly growing livestock populations in Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA). They withstand drought, and need less water to produce high amounts of herbage, grain and straw. And because of their ability to fix nitrogen from the air (performed by Rhizobium in root nodules) they are a “fertilizer factory on the farm.”
     ICARDA is investigating two vetches, narbon vetch (Vicia narbonensis L) and underground vetch (Vicia sativa ssp. amphicarpa), for their usefulness in areas that receive less than 300 mm rainfall. Narbon vetch has high yield potential and drought and cold tolerance. It is a good source of protein. Its seeds contain 28% protein, yielding around 365 kg protein per hectare. Its straw contains 9% protein.
    Some cultivars and promising lines developed at ICARDA have shown high seedling vigor, with rapid winter growth and negligible cold damage. At Breda in Syria in 1998/1999, one of the driest growing seasons on record (total precipitation 198 mm, 58% of long-term mean annual rainfall), improved lines of narbon vetch yielded more than 1.8 tonnes per hectare grain and 4.5 tonnes per hectare straw, much higher than other legumes.
    Results obtained from Gansu province in China confirmed narbon vetch’s adaptation to harsh conditions. In Cyprus, after five years of testing breeding lines, the national program released IFLVN # 567 as a variety for cultivation in dry areas.
    These results demonstrate that narbon vetch is a dependable feed legume where other legumes are not successful. The seeds contain protein with an amino acid composition nearly equivalent to that of soybean. New improved varieties are low in gamma–glutamyle–S ethyle Cystein (GEC), a sulfur compound that reduces grain palatability and leads to reduced feed intake in monogastric livestock.
    This crop can substantially increase feed production and farm income in rotation with barley, particularly in areas where barley monoculture is becoming more common due to pressure on land availability, and which in turn is leading to low barley yield.

Underground vetch

The so-called underground vetch produces more than half of its pods underground, leaving a good seed bank for self-regeneration in the next season. It is tolerant to drought and has a good persistency even under heavy grazing, thus, providing particularly valuable forage under marginal conditions. Available landraces, however, have relatively low herbage yield. Breeders have been successful in obtaining increased herbage yield by crossing underground vetch with promising lines of common vetch. This vetch holds promise for rehabilitating marginal lands and in ley farming systems, and in rotation with barley in areas too dry for production of other vetches and medics (Medicago spp.).