| Sumario: | Arachis pintoi / grass mixtures: an alternative for sustainable land use in livestock systems. Arachis pintoi is a tropical legume adapted to medium/low fertility acid soils, grows well at elevations between 0 to 1800 m.a.s.l, prefers rainfall ranging from 2000 to 3500 mm, distributed at least in 8 months A. pintoi is shade-tolerant, compatible with many grasses, and has several morphological and physiological mechanisms that allow it to persist, even under intense defoliation. Due to its high nutritional value and ability to fix atmospheric N2, A. pintoi not only contributes to improving diet quality in grass/legume mixtures, but also to increasing growth rate and CP content of the associated grass. Furthermore, nutrient cycling efficiency is enhanced in this type of pastures, and many physical, fertility, and biological soil parameters associated with sustainability tend to be improved. Animal production parameters obtained for grass/A. pintoi mixtures are promising. Criollo x Jersey crossbred cows fed only Arachis/African stargrass pastures, managed with a stocking rate (SR) of 2.4 cows/ha, produced 10.8 kg milk/day, whereas the corresponding milk yield for African stargrass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) pastures, fertilized with 100 kg N/ha/year, was only 9.5 kg/day. Regarding beef production, the highest yields (937 kg LWG/ha/year) were obtained in the humid tropics, when A. pintoi/B. brizantha pastures were managed with an SR of 6.0 steers/ha.
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