Gliricidia sepium: a promising legume tree for the Brazilian Semiarid zone.

In the Brazilian semiarid, there are recommendations for the cultivation of gliricidia to use as protein banks, in association with forage cactus, maize, bean, use as live fences, and as preserved forage such as hay and silage A successful strategy is its cultivation in alleys in association with grasses for direct browsing Integrating gliricidia into grazing systems increases carrying capacity of the pasture and promotes greater animal performance, being equivalent to N fertilization applied in the grass monoculture pastures Gliricidia silage or hay can substitute about 50 of the concentrate feed in lambs diet without altering their live weight gain These findings confirm the importance of gliricidia for the Brazilian semiarid livestock production.