Tag: germplasm
To establish communities of practice in the promotion of locally adaptable agroforestry options supported by appropriate inputs systems
T4FS project 2 Project Overview: Steering Committee Meeting 7th November 2019 Nairobi, Kenya
Indigenous visions: painting the future in southwest China
Gliricidia Sepium Factsheet: Establishment, management and benefits
Agroforestry trees: to domesticate or not to domesticate?
The improvement of agroforestry is as much a social and political challenge as a biological one. To encourage tree planting amonst a diverse client group of resource poor farmers requires better understanding of farmer’s decision-making processes. The modest resources for domestication efforts will have to be focused on priority species which have been determined following objective methodologies. Common to the domestication of all species is a need to accelerate the process to deliver appropriate imorovement early on. The proactive multiplication of germplasm is required to reduce the lag phase between identification and adoption of improved material.
Tree nursery and seed procurement characteristics influence on seedling quality in Oromia, Ethiopia
Most tree nurseries in Ethiopia overemphasize mass seedling production to the expense of seedling quality. The study aimed at evaluating nursery characteristics and tree seed procurement approaches, and how these influenced seedling quality in eight purposively selected Woredas of Oromia region. A total of 169 respondents from government and non-government organizations, farmer nursery owners and development/extension agents and officers were interviewed. Seed quality was explored through assessing the seed supply sources, the type of seed source and mother tree selection, and the practices in seed physiological quality assessments. Our results revealed that over half (62.5%) of the nurseries were government owned, while 20% were NGO-run nurseries and the remaining 17.5% were owned by farmers. Nine challenges constraining tree seedling production and leading to underperformance were identified, with the two major problems shared by all nursery types being lack of sufficient material and germplasm input and using seeds of low or unknown quality. Informal seed dealers were the main source of seeds (87.6%) for all the nursery types. On the other hand, nursery operator’s own seed collection was from any free-standing trees either planted or retained as these sources were easily accessible. Seeds were, on average, collected from few mother trees, implying a high probability of sourcing seeds of narrow genetic diversity. Analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences in seedling germination among the different seed procurement approaches within the same seed type. The seeds obtained from formal seed dealers had the highest germination rates in both hard-coated (87.3%) and soft-coated (79.7%) seeds. Our findings suggest that there is need to improve the seed procurement and the seedling supply system through quality assurance of the seeds used in seedling production. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Collecting germplasm from trees-some guidelines’
There are many reasons for collecting tree germplasm.There may bea need for planting material that will be distributedimmediately to users-farmers or horticul- :turists or extensionworkers. With the rapid rate of deforesta- tion throughout thetropics, many species of trees-and their: genetic wealth-areendangered and the collection may be.to conserve their germplasm for posterity. In addition, : germplasm may be collected because it is needed for tree-.improvement programmes. Germplasm collection is a key step in anyprocess to do-.mesticate trees;the genetic variation of a speciesshould be : present in the collected germplasm, and this is needed for. the selection and improvement that are part ofdomestica-:tion. Many tropical trees have undergone little or nodomes-.tication,so the best source of germplasm for improvement:of these species is wild populations.However,collecting is . also often done in exotic stands, because theyare relatively :easy to get at and they provide a good comparative base in.trials to assess the performance ofdifferent sources of . germ plasm
Prosopis africana in the Sahel – the last stand?
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How farmers use and manage tree germplasm: case studies from the Peruvian Amazon
The results of case studies (rapid rural appraisal approach) conducted in the Pucallpa region, Peru, during 1996, are presented. Information was obtained on the socioeconomic conditions of the farmers (2 indigenous and 3 immigrant) who all practiced slash-and-burn agriculture on a 5-20 year cycle. Trees in the region are used primarily, in order of preference, for fruit, construction poles, firewood, medicines, sawn timber, fencing, canoes and soil improvement. Some trees, especially fruit trees, are planted, but management is restricted to weed control during establishment. Germplasm came mainly from natural regeneration of existing trees and on-farm collections. Selection criteria for fruit trees concentrated on fruit quality rather than quantity. It is concluded that there is obvious lack on farm of quality tree germplasm of some species, although most farmers seem unaware of this.