Introduction The perennial fodder leguminous herbs play an important role in the development of the agriculture due to their content of organic substances and to the nitrogen fi xation in the soil, increase of the nutritional value of feed and animal production, combat of the soil erosion processes(1,2,4). Material and methods The plants of the Astragalus galegiformis L. species from the collection of non-traditional fodder plants of the Botanical Garden (Institute) of the ASM, introduced from the Caucasus Mountains served as object of study. Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa) served as control variant. The experiences and the scientifi c researches on growth and development, productivity and nutritional value were performed according to the methodical indications (3).  Results and discussions As a result of the researches it has been established that the appearance of plantlets at A. galegiformis occurs after 16 to 19 days after sowing. In the fi rst year of vegetation, this species has a slow growth and development in comparison with M. sativa, forming a bush of 2-3 shoots up to 35 cm tall. In the following years, A. galegiformis restart their vegetation 5-7 days later than M. sativa, but they are distinguished by a faster rate of growth and development. Thus, at 20 days after the restart of vegetation, the shoots are 61.4 cm tall, but, alfalfa – 31.8 cm, and, at the fl owering stage – 191.4 cm and 83.2 cm respectively. At A. galegiformis plants, the formation of fl ower buds was observed after 61 days after the start of vegetation and the fl owering – in the 70th day, that is with 12 days earlier in comparison with alfalfa. The period of restart of the vegetation until the complete maturing of the seeds at the studied species constitutes about 120 days, and 145 days – at alfalfa. Analyzing the seed productivity of A. galegiformis, it can be mentioned that it has a higher seed yield (60.40 g/m2) than alfalfa (27.14 g/m2), because the seeds are bigger, the weight of 1000 seeds reaches 8.66 g..  It was found that during the years, at A. galegiformis, the number of shoots on a bush grows, which infl uences positively the accumulation of aerial phytomass and the production of fodder. So, in the 3rd to the 4th year of exploitation, the natural fodder productivity reaches 6.42 kg/m2 exceeding by far the alfalfa, having also a higher content of dry matter in the natural fodder. The fodder of A. galegiformis has the same protein content (16.63%) as the alfalfa; it contains a high amount of fats (3.21%) and a low amount of minerals (6.46%). The fodder value is of 0.27 nutritive units and 3.26 MJ/kg metabolizable energy for cattle, digestible protein – 145.81 g/nutritive unit, it also has an increased content of essential amino acids, except the methionine content which is lower in comparison with M. sativa. The fresh phytomass of A. galegiformis can be incorporated into the soil as fertilizer at the production of ecological food products. Conclusions The A. galegiformis plants have an accelerated growth and development which infl uence positively the productivity of phytomass and seeds. The natural fodder is rich in protein, essential amino acids and fats, ensured at a high level with metabolizable energy.