Increasing the productivity in both crop and agroforestry subsectors is one of the measures taken to improve food security and livelihoods of subsistence farmers. This improvement can only be realized if subsistence farmers have access to quality planting material. The lack of high-quality planting material has been repeatedly identified as a major constraint to greater adoption of agroforestry innovations. The recognition of this fact has led to the development of national seed and seedling programs. However, the low capacity of these programs, the sluggish growth of the private sector, and the demand of subsistence farmers means they are obliged to seek alternative models. This paper discusses results and experiences drawn from a community-based seed and seedling production and dissemination system in the Western Highlands of Cameroon. The system is built on the concept of a rural resource centre in which capacities of farmers were strengthened to multiply improved planting material of four food crops and five fruit tree species. The rural resource centres are now sources of quality seeds and seedlings for farmers and institutional clients. The system has effectively improved the on-time dissemination, accessibility, affordability, and availability of quality planting material which are obtained at affordable prices due to proximity and reduced transport and distribution costs. Income from selling improved planting material has become an incentive for rural resources centres and helps to ensure sustainability of the system. Availability of quality seeds was found to increase on-farm crop yields by 20–40 %, while demand for improved seedlings has surpassed supplies in participating communities. The successful dissemination of this approach requires much more than the transfer of knowledge and availability of improved germplasm; it involves supporting the capacities of the rural resource centres, building partnerships with a range of stakeholders, increasing the involvement and interaction of government services, improving storage and marketing strategies, and decreasing dependency on external resources. The main challenge of the future is how to make such a system sustainable. Furthermore, in addition to the challenge of projecting and meeting the quantitative demands of farmers and other stakeholders, issues of seed quality and genetic diversity still need to be addressed when designing and implementing effective seed supply strategies and policies.
Tag: propagation materials
Tithonia diversifolia as a green manure for soil fertility improvement in western Kenya: A review
Tithonia diversifolia, a shrub in the family Asteraceae, is widely distributed along farm boundaries in the humid and subhumid tropics of Africa. Green biomass of tithonia has been recognized as an effective source of nutrients for lowland rice (Oryza sativa) in Asia and more recently for maize (Zea mays) and vegetables in eastern and southern Africa. This paper reviews the potential of tithonia green biomass for soil fertility improvement based on recent research in western Kenya. Green leaf biomass of tithonia is high in nutrients, averaging about 3.5% N, 0.37% P and 4.1% K on a dry matter basis. Boundary hedges of sole tithonia can produce about 1 kg biomass (tender stems + leaves) m1 yr1 on a dry weight basis. Tithonia biomass decomposes rapidly after application to soil, and incorporated biomass can be an effective source of N, P and K for crops. In some cases, maize yields were even higher with incorporation of tithonia biomass than with commercial mineral fertilizer at equivalent rates of N, P and K. In addition to providing nutrients, tithonia incorporated at 5 t dry matter ha1 can reduce P sorption and increase soil microbial biomass. Because of high labor requirements for cutting and carrying the biomass to fields, the use of tithonia biomass as a nutrient source is more profitable with high-value crops such as vegetables than with relatively low-valued maize. The transfer of tithonia biomass to fields constitutes the redistribution of nutrients within the landscape rather than a net input of nutrients. External inputs of nutrients would eventually be required to sustain production of tithonia when biomass is continually cut and transferred to agricultural land.
Albizia procera – white siris for reforestation and agroforestry
Albizia is a large fast-growing tree that occurs on many different sites. It occurs in forests and savanna woodlands, but prefers moist sites. This species provides wood for a variety of purpose, nutrition, fodder for livestock and shade for tea plantations. This article gives a brief account of this multipurpose tee and how it can be used for reforestation and agroforestry systems.
African plum: Dacryodes edulis
BOTANIC DESCRIPTIONDacryodes edulis is a medium-sized, evergreen tree attaining a height of 18-40 m in the forest but not exceeding 12 m in plantations. It is generally branched from low down, with a deep, dense crown. The bole is rather short, slightly fluted, 50-170 cm in diameter and more or less sinuous. The scented, pale grey, rough bark exudes a whitish resin. Buttresses are absent.Leaves compound, imparipinnate, with 5-8 pairs of leaflets; glossy above, pubescent, the pubescence disappearing with age.Flowers subtended, 3 lobed, conspicuous, caducous brow bracts, fragrant, about 5 mm across, trimerous except for the ovary, arranged in dense, ferruginous, stellate-tomentose inflorescence; sepals 3, brown; petals 3, cream-yellow; stamens 6, white; disc 6 lobed, surrounding the 2-celled, glabrous ovary; inflorescence axis 10-42 cm long or longer, deeply grooved.Fruits ellipsoidal drupes rather variable in size, 4-12 x 3-6 cm, resembling olives; exocarp thin, pink, becoming dark blue to violet at maturity; pulp firm and thin.
African plum: family – Burseraceae. Safou – Shoue-Assa-Abua-Atanga
Evergreen oleiferous tropical fruit tre that can reach 20-30m in height in forest and 12m in orchads/plantations;the trank has an everage diameter of 55cm;leaves are compound,imparipinnate,with 5-8 pairs of leaflets; flowers are small with axis inflorescence.The fruit is usually cylindrical in shape.The ripe fruit is bluish/black in colour and filled with a rich oily pulp containing one seed.The seed is large and has no seed coat.
Germplasm supply, propagation and nursery management of miombo fruit trees
In this chapter, we review the state of knowledge about germplasm delivery and the propagation and nursery management of miombo fruit trees in Africa. The chapter will be limited to examples relevant to small-farm agroforestry systems in southern Africa as opposed to highly intensive monocultural orchard production systems. We discuss the factors involved in determining the most appropriate methods of propagation for particular species, and the associated constraints and limitations in scaling up the domestication of indigenous fruit trees in southern Africa