Maintenance of soil fertility was an important consideration during
the development of the forage production systems. The region is
characterized by free-draining, sandy soils that are very low in inherent
fertility. The use of inorganic fertilizers in the region is limited mainly by
their high prices and irregular availability. During the development of the
forage production systems, inexpensive alternatives such as animal
manure, biological nitrogen fixation and recycling of nutrients received
particular emphasis. In this chapter we present and discuss the main
species selected from the numerous screening trials and the major forage
production systems developed.