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Red moneywort (Alysicarpus rugosus)

Datasheet

Description
Click on the "Nutritional aspects" tab for recommendations for ruminants, pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses, fish and crustaceans
Alysicarpus rugosus
Common names 

Red moneywort, alyce clover, rough chainpea, shevra

Species 

Alysicarpus rugosus (Willd.) DC. [Fabaceae]

Synonyms 

Alysicarpus longifolius sensu Span., Alysicarpus violaceus Schindl., Alysicarpus violaceus sensu (Forssk.) Schindl., Alysicarpus wallichii Wight & Arn., Hedysarum rugosum Willd.

Feed categories 
Related feed(s) 
Description 

Red moneywort (Alysicarpus rugosus (Willd.) DC.) is an upright robust annual legume growing up to 60-150 cm with oblong to lanceolate leaves 10 cm long x 2 cm wide. Its reddish flowers form a dense mass in racemes up to 10 cm long. It can grow on residual soil moisture during the dry season and can provide green forage when most associated forages have dried up (Kallah et al., 2000). Annual dry matter yields range from 3000 to 7500 kg/ha when cultivated alone. In Zambia, this plant is leafy, fairly persistent and considered moderately productive (Van Rensburg, 1967). In addition to its use as forage, its seeds are reported to be a famine food (Freedman, 2009; Cook et al., 2005).

Distribution 

Alysicarpus rugosus is native to tropical Africa, Madagascar, temperate and tropical Asia, and Australia. It is found at altitudes up to 1400 m in the foothills of the Himalayas. Its grows in areas with 600 to 1500 mm annual rainfall and thrives when rainfall exceeds 900 mm. It prefers sandy loam and clay soils and is poorly adapted to acid-infertile soils. It may be found in grassy and wooded savannahs, and path sides (USDA, 2009; Ecocrop, 2009; Cook et al., 2005).

Environmental impact 

Red moneywort is a non-aggressive species and is thus suitable for intercropping in semi-arid regions (Njarui, 1988).

Nutritional aspects
Ruminants 

Alysicarpus rugosus is very palatable and is recognized as a potentially good source of fodder. It has a good protein content (Kallah et al., 2000). It is introduced into sown pastures during the dry season, in order to produce fresh fodder two months later for cattle.

In India, Alysicarpus rugosus hay replaced green alfalfa and provided 50% of the protein requirements of crossbred dairy weaner cattle without reducting live-weight gains (Patel et al., 1991). Live-weight gains were maximised at 40% replacement of crude protein requirements (Cook et al., 2005).

Nutritional tables
Tables of chemical composition and nutritional value 

Avg: average or predicted value; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum value; Max: maximum value; Nb: number of values (samples) used

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Crude protein % DM 16.4 3.9 12.4 23.1 10
Crude fibre % DM 36.5 33.8 39.1 2
NDF % DM 51.4 8.1 42.2 57.1 3
ADF % DM 38.1 5.1 32.4 42.0 3
Lignin % DM 7.9 1.9 5.7 9.2 3
Ether extract % DM 1.6 1.4 1.8 2
Ash % DM 9.9 4.0 6.5 18.3 9
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 18.3 *
 
Minerals Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Calcium g/kg DM 8.5 4.2 2.4 14.4 9
Phosphorus g/kg DM 1.6 0.6 1.0 2.4 10
Potassium g/kg DM 19.5 7.5 10.8 29.0 4
Sodium g/kg DM 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.4 9
Magnesium g/kg DM 3.1 0.8 1.5 4.1 8
Manganese mg/kg DM 43 54 0 103 3
Zinc mg/kg DM 24 9 11 38 7
Copper mg/kg DM 14 4 9 21 7
Iron mg/kg DM 191 20 168 205 3
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant % 58.7 *
Energy digestibility, ruminants % 56.1 *
DE ruminants MJ/kg DM 10.2 *
ME ruminants MJ/kg DM 8.1 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

CGIAR, 2009; Kallah et al., 2000; Sen, 1938; Verboom, 1965

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:12

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 92.1 1
Crude protein % DM 13.5 1
Crude fibre % DM 32.8 1
NDF % DM 40.6 1
Ether extract % DM 3.7 1
Ash % DM 9.4 1
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 18.7 *
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant % 59.5 *
Energy digestibility, ruminants % 56.1 *
DE ruminants MJ/kg DM 10.5 *
ME ruminants MJ/kg DM 8.4 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Patil et al., 1991

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:12

References
References 
Cook, B. G.; Pengelly, B. C.; Brown, S. D.; Donnelly, J. L.; Eagles, D. A.; Franco, M. A. ; Hanson, J.; Mullen, B. F.; Partridge, I. J.; Peters, M.; Schultze-Kraft, R., 2005. Tropical forages. CSIRO, DPI&F(Qld), CIAT and ILRI, Brisbane, Australia web icon
Ecocrop, 2009. Ecocrop database. FAO web icon
FAO, 2009. Grassland Index. A searchable catalogue of grass and forage legumes. FAO, Rome, Italy web icon
Freedman, R. L., 2009. Famine foods database. Purdue University web icon
Kallah, M. S. ; Bale, J. O. ; Abdullahi, U. S. ; Muhammad, I . R. ; Lawal, R., 2000. Nutrient composition of native forbs of semi-arid and dry sub-humid savannas of Nigeria. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 84: 137-145 web icon
Njarui, D. M. G., 1988. Techniques for introducing forage legumes to the small-scale farmers of the semi-arid region of Kenya. In: PANESA/ARNAB, Utilization of research results on forage and agricultural by-product materials as animal feed resources in Africa, Proc. 1rst joint workshop, Lilongwe, Malawi, 5-9 Dec. 1988, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 833 pp. web icon
Patel, P. M. ; Gholap, G. U. ; Gujar, B. V. ; Pawar, A. S., 1991. Effect of part protein replacement by leguminous weed shevra (Alysicarpus rugosus DC) in the diet of crossbred (Holstein x Deoni) heifers. Indian J. Anim. Nutr., 8, 69-72
Sen, K. C., 1938. The nutritive values of Indian cattle feeds and the feeding of animals. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Dehli, Bulletin No. 25, 1-30
USDA, 2009. GRIN - Germplasm Resources Information Network. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland web icon
Van Rensburg, H. J., 1967. Legumes in natural grassland. FAO
10 references found
Datasheet citation 

Heuzé V., Tran G., 2015. Red moneywort (Alysicarpus rugosus). Feedipedia, a programme by INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://feedipedia.org/node/335 Last updated on May 11, 2015, 14:30

English correction by Tim Smith (Animal Science consultant) and Hélène Thiollet (AFZ)
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