Summer legumes like prickly sesban and cowpea can help increase the growth and yield of rice crops. Green-manure from prickly sesban and fodder from cowpea can provide similar benefits as nitrogen fertilizer for rice. The yields from using green-manure and a lower amount of nitrogen fertilizer were comparable. Planting these legumes in the summer also improved the yield and nitrogen uptake of wheat crops that followed the rice harvest. This was because the legumes increased the available nitrogen in the soil, leading to better growth of the wheat plants.