Uses
The history of legumes is tied in closely with that of human civilization, appearing early in Asia, the Americas (the common bean, several varieties) and Europe (broad beans) by 6,000 BCE, where they became a staple, essential for supplementing protein where there was not enough meat.
Their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen reduces fertilizer costs for farmers and gardeners who grow legumes, and means that legumes can be used in a crop rotation to replenish soil that has been depleted of nitrogen. Legume seeds and foliage have a comparatively higher protein content than non-legume materials, due to the additional nitrogen that legumes receive through the process. Some legume species perform hydraulic lift, which makes them ideal for intercropping.
Farmed legumes can belong to numerous classes, including forage, grain, blooms, pharmaceutical/industrial, fallow/green manure and timber species, with most commercially farmed species filling two or more roles simultaneously.
There are of two broad types of forage legumes. Some, like alfalfa, clover, vetch, and Arachis, are sown in pasture and grazed by livestock. Other forage legumes such as Leucaena or Albizia are woody shrub or tree species that are either broken down by livestock or regularly cut by humans to provide stock feed.
Grain legumes are cultivated for their seeds, and are also called pulses. The seeds are used for human and animal consumption or for the production of oils for industrial uses. Grain legumes include both herbaceous plants like beans, lentils, lupins, peas and peanuts. and trees such as carob, mesquite and tamarind.
Bloom legume species include species such as lupin, which are farmed commercially for their blooms as well as being popular in gardens worldwide. Laburnum, Robinia, Gleditsia, Acacia, Mimosa, and Delonix are ornamental trees and shrubs.
Industrial farmed legumes include Indigofera, cultivated for the production of indigo, Acacia, for gum arabic, and Derris, for the insecticide action of rotenone, a compound it produces.
Fallow or green manure legume species are cultivated to be tilled back into the soil to exploit the high nitrogen levels found in most legumes. Numerous legumes are farmed for this purpose, including Leucaena, Cyamopsis and Sesbania.
Various legume species are farmed for timber production worldwide, including numerous Acacia species, Dalbergia species, and Castanospermum australe.
Read more about this topic: Fabaceae