Agroforestry practices in Sudan take on various forms across the country, depending on the arrangement, distribution and integration of trees with agricultural crops and/or livestock. The study aimed to describe and analyse the arrangement of acacia trees with crops on parklands in El Dali and El Mazmum areas in Sennar State, Sudan. Specifically, an attempt was made to identify the determinants of integration of natural acacia trees with crops in mechanised rain-fed agricultural schemes forming agroforestry parklands. Another specific aim was to determine farmers’ perceptions about the constraints of adopting such agroforestry practices were also determined. Data was collected using a social survey method, in which 50 % of the total numbers of villages was randomly selected after classification into small, medium and large villages. Moreover, 5 % of the heads of households in the selected villages were interviewed face to face. The number of respondents was 281. Logistic regression model results indicated that the number of household members, the administrative unit, the incentive received from agricultural union and the land size were the main determinants for integrating acacia trees with agricultural crops in mechanised rain-fed agricultural schemes forming the agroforestry parklands. Constraints related to the prevalence of agroforestry practices included the absence of extension services and planting materials, unfavourable tree tenure, the destruction of trees/crops by animals, and the practice of renting land for sole crop cultivation. Several suggestions are given increased adoption of sustainable agroforestry for more production farming. As a priority land tenure and tree tenure issues must be clarified.
Tag: Acacias
Biomass and potential nutrient removal by harvesting in short-rotation plantations
Data on standing biomass, mean annual increment of carbon stock, and nutrient accumulation in 40 industrial plantations at 21 sites in 11 countries are summarised. Aboveground biomass and mean annual increment of carbon near the harvest age, of these plantations ranged from 44 to 324 t ha-1 and from 3.1 to 22.9 tC ha-1 yr-1, respectively. Plantations managed on a short rotation are expected to accumulate carbon rapidly. However, there are large variations of biomass accumulation depending on site conditions. There is concern about the potential decrease of productivity caused by nutrient loss by intensive and repeated harvesting. It is important to determine the nutrients removed and conserve them as much as possible to prevent productivity loss and for sustainable management of industrial plantations. Careful management of the nutrient cycle through residue retention and fertiliser application is necessary to maintain high productivity.