multipurpose tree species research for small farms: strategies ... - part

Seedng Production Feasibility
If production of the requested seedlings is
feasible the nursery foremen gather the seeds if
they are available locally. Ifthere are no local seed
sources LAC will try to acquire seeds from other
sources. If the species chosen by the farmers are
unsuitable to the area, the silvicultural
requirements of the trees are explained in detail to
the nursery foreman. Aftei .eturning to the village
he discusses these reasons with the farmers,
It is surprising to note that species selected by
the farmers for community planting are very
different from those chosen for planting oil their
own land. For their own land farmers generally
choose MPTS, whereas species appropriate for
timber, fuelwood, poles, or occasionally fodder are
requested for community planting. A possible
explanation is that farmer,; do not plant MPTS on
community land due to problems of allocating
products within the community. However, in some
areaspcople have now started planting
consi erable numbers of MPTS on their
community land.
The establishment of private nurseries has been
encouraged in villages which are quite far from the
LAC nurseries and where seedling demand is low.
In private nurseries most seedlings grown Lre
MPTS, since they are for planting on private land.
If the nursery owner is enable to produce the
farmers' choice of species, the seedlings will not be
picke,! up by the villagers and LAC will not pay the
nurs -'y. Thus, private nurserymen are very careful
to raise seedlings chosen by the farmers. Although
the private nursery program started in 1987, it is
becoming popular. Eight private nurseries,
producing between 2,000-2,500 saplings each, were
established in the first two years of the program.
Pre-planting Preparation
Two to three months before the planting season,
field staff hold meetings in the villages to discuss
the quantity and species of MPTS available and to
ask the farmers to select sites and dig holes to
prepare for planting. Visiting individual farmers
for training on planting techniques is not practical,
so hands-on, one day village level training sessions
are held. At these sessions the field staff discuss
the advantages of digging the proper sized holes in
advance. They demonstrate proper planting
techniques and villagers are encouraged to try it
themselves,
Most of the planting takes place during the
monsoon -- the last week of May to the last week of
112
August. When farmers live more than a half
day s walk from the nursery they are paid for
carrying the seedlings home (a person can carry
up to 40-60 seedlings per load). This cost to
LAC has been a major factor in attempts to
encourage private nurseries in outlying areas.
At one time it was found that farmers came to
collect seedlings just to get the porterage
money. At that time two way porterage was
paid. Now only half way or one way porterage is
given with the rate.based on the distance of the
village from the nursery.
In the past, some farmers received free
seedlings of popular MPTS -rees and then sold
them to farmers of other villages for up to
US$0.15 per seedling. To prevent this, field
staff now check farmrs' names against the list
made during the pre-planting meetings. In
addition, LAC has instituted a new policy of
restricting the number of popular MPTS
seedlings that any one farmer may take.
However, it is a flexible policy and depends on
[he field staff and the farmers.
Planting Techniques and Sapling Care
Evidence of success of the private planting
program is inconclusive at this time. In a survey
of 55 farmers, Balogun and Harrison (1989)
found that major causes of seedling mortality
were grazing and inappropriate selection of
speci s. The survival rate of saplings after three
years was 42 percent. The planting stage was
found to be the critical factor aff-cting seedling
survival.
in order to provide saplings with a better
chance of survival, LAC and the field staff are
placing more emphasis on village-based
training. The goal of these training sessions is to
encourage farmers to plant saplings in suitable
areas, to dig holes of adequate size and to add
compost to the hole at planting time. In
addition, farmers are reminded to remove the
plastic seedling bags %khenplanting because
seedlings are occasionally left in the lastic bags
when they are planted in the field. This
village-based training allows small-scale farmers
and women to attend, as they would generally
be unable to attend training sessions at LAC
due to time constraints. During the hands-on
training, villagers are asked to participate in the
fields so they can remember the techniques.
During training they are also given information
on post-planting operations and their effects on
sapling growth.