Lupins are cool-season annual legumes that fix high levels of Nitrogen and can be grown in a wide range of conditions. Lupins have aggressive taproots, especially the narrow-leaf cultivars. You can kill lupins mechanically or with herbicides. Their hollow stems crush or break readily, making it easy to plant cash crops using conservation tillage equipment.

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Three lupin species are generally grown for agricultural purposes, these include: White lupins (Lupinus albus), Blue lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) and Yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus).