Centrosema pubescens (CP): Cover Crop Guide for Tropical Plantations

Centrosema pubescens (CP) is a shade-tolerant perennial leguminous cover crop used in tropical oil palm and rubber plantations. It fixes nitrogen, persists as the canopy closes, and provides durable ground cover. CP is broadcast-seeded and often grown in mixtures with faster pioneer species.

What is Centrosema pubescens?

Centrosema pubescens is a twining perennial legume grown as a cover crop in plantation systems. It is slower to establish than pioneer species but more persistent and shade-tolerant, which makes it valuable for keeping soil covered into the later, more shaded years of a plantation. In association with Rhizobium in its roots it fixes nitrogen and returns nutrients through leaf litter.

Why plantations use Centrosema pubescens

Nitrogen contribution

PROSEA cites a nitrogen fixation range of 120 to 270 kg N per hectare per year for CP. It is important to be clear about what that is: an institutional compiled estimate assembled from the literature, not a figure measured in a single field trial. Ranges of that width should be read as an order of magnitude, and a fertiliser plan should not be built against the upper end. We previously published a single higher per-hectare biomass-nitrogen figure on this page; we could not trace it to a primary source and have withdrawn it rather than replace it with another number.

Persistence and shade tolerance

Unlike fast pioneer species that fade as light is reduced, CP tolerates shade and persists into the maturing canopy, extending the useful life of the ground cover. Along with Calopogonium caeruleum, CP is one of the two shade-persistent successors: Pueraria javanica thins as the canopy closes, and Mucuna bracteata carries the cover through the maturing phase before CP and CC take over under a fully closed canopy.

Ground cover and erosion

CP forms a durable cover that protects soil from rainfall and runoff and helps retain moisture, particularly on slopes and in older stands.

How to establish Centrosema pubescens

1. Scarify the seed. Hard CP seed germinates more evenly after scarification, commonly a hot-water soak.
2. Broadcast. Sow at 3 to 4.5 kg/ha in monoculture, or at 0.5 to 3 kg/ha as the CP component of a mixture. The best-cited published mixture is MPOB TT No. 501 (Information Series 588, June 2012), Table 1 treatment C2: PJ 4 : CP 3 : CC 1, total 8 kg/ha, with 5 g of Rhizobium (RRI strain) inoculant per kg of seed. That is an institutional best-management-practice recommendation from a peat trial, not a primary field measurement, and MPOB does not state whether the total is per gross hectare or per interrow hectare actually sown.
3. Time it well. Establish in the inter-rows of young plantings so the cover is in place early, then relies on its persistence as the canopy develops.

Where Centrosema pubescens fits, and where it does not

Well suited to: maturing and mature oil palm and rubber, sites that need long-term persistent cover, and mixtures where it provides staying power after pioneer species decline.

Less suitable for: situations needing the fastest possible early cover, where a pioneer species such as Calopogonium mucunoides establishes more quickly. CP is commonly paired with such species rather than used alone for rapid cover.

Compared with other cover crops

CP is the persistence and shade-tolerance specialist of the common species. Calopogonium mucunoides and Pueraria javanica establish faster but thin out as light falls; Mucuna bracteata produces the most biomass, tolerates shade well enough to be used under maturing oil palm, and is transplanted rather than broadcast. See the five-species comparison and the cover crops guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is Centrosema pubescens?
A shade-persistent perennial legume cover crop valued for staying power in tropical plantations once the canopy closes.

How much CP seed per hectare?
About 3 to 4.5 kg/ha in monoculture, or 0.5 to 3 kg/ha as the CP component of a mixture; broadcast after scarifying.

How much nitrogen does CP contribute?
PROSEA cites 120 to 270 kg N/ha/yr. That is an institutional compiled estimate rather than a field measurement, and it should not be planned against at the top of the range. We are not able to give you a single measured field figure for CP, and we would rather say that than invent one.

Is CP good for mature plantations?
Yes, it tolerates shade and persists as the canopy closes in older stands. It is one of the two shade-persistent successors, along with Calopogonium caeruleum.

Related reading

• Multi-Species Cover Crop Mixes: Why Blending Outperforms Single-Species Planting
• How to Choose the Right Cover Crop for Your Malaysian Estate
• Nitrogen Fixation in Tropical Plantations: How Legume Cover Crops Cut Fertiliser Costs
• Best Cover Crops for Tropical Climates in Malaysia

Sources: PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia), Centrosema pubescens; MPOB TT No. 501 / Information Series 588 (June 2012); Tropical Forages database (CSIRO, CIAT, ILRI). Figures are given with method and context; results depend on site, soil, rainfall, and management. Last reviewed August 2026.