ABSTRACT
Climatic and edaphic factors are the major determinants of the distribution and production of plants,inbothnaturalandmanagedecosystems(Andrew,1978).Foragegrassesandlegumescan growunderawiderangeofclimaticandsoilconditions.Itisimpossibletodiscussclimaticand soilrequirementsforall11,000grassandlegumespeciesusedasforagesworldwide(Janicket al., 1969).However,somebasicprinciplesofsoilandclimaticresponsesofforageshavewidespread applicability and are discussed in this section. The characteristics of important grass and legume speciesarelistedinTable18.1.Thesegrassesandlegumespeciesaretheimportantforagespecies in the tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions around the world.
