Our native legumes are essentially grown for animal feed as protein feed. For the people of the world, they are an important source of vegetable protein and amino acids and are becoming increasingly important. Legumes have the special feature that their roots form a symbiosis with soil bacteria (rhizobia). These are able to fix nitrogen from the air and make it available to the legumes for the formation of protein or subsequent crops as a plant nutrient. Their ability to fix nitrogen means that mineral nitrogen fertilisers can be saved. For organic farming, legumes are therefore an indispensable component in crop rotation.