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

A group of scientists and villagers went
through a list of species to identify drought
resistant perennials to help the farmers select
specific species and consider possible planting
sites.
The Farmers' Choices of Perennials
The traditional use of trees in this area is
limited to the collection of forest products and
timber. The villagers are not usedto
propagating indigenous species and their
existence is limited to the upland chenas in
isolated cases. The products of indigenous
species, such as bassia (Maduca lonIfolia),
tamarind (Tainarindusindica), wood apple
(Lirnoniaacidissinia and margosa (Azadirachta
indica) are collected by women and children,
and either sold immediately or processed and
stored to fetch a higher price during the
off-season. The naturally germinated plants are
often destroyed when the upland farms are
burned in preparation for planting. As a result
of felling mature trees, the supply is diminishing
rapidly. Growing trees for shade, food and
timber is usually restricted to homegardens and
no attempt has been made to grow trees in the
uplands.
The farmers' knowledge of drought resistant
species is limited to those which have
traditionally been used in the area. Their
knowledge of genetically improved varieties is
minimal. Perennial species common to the area
are presented in Table 2. Thorny shrubs and
forest species are not listed. Only a few species
are noted in the fields and these have usually
germinated naturally. Becau5e of this, most of
the upland farms are characterized by high rates
of evaporation and exposed soil surface.
Gliricidiasepium and Leucaena letic'cephala
are two exotic species mentioned by the
farmers, but they are grown only for hedges.
Planted species commonly seen in homegardens
includeArtocarpus heterophylla, Cocos nucifera,
Musa acwminata co//a, and Mangifera indica.
The farmers' preferences for tree species,
ranked by priority, are for fond, timber, and
medicine. Although the villagers are aware of
the multiple uses of trees, most of them
mentioned only food and timber values. Fodder
value, fuelwood production and the use of
organic residues as fertilizer were mentioned by
only eight percent of the households. These
additional values are unimportant to the
villagers as they let their animals roam freely to
feed, collect fuelwood while clearing the fields
for planting, and burn plant debris rather than
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applying itto enrich the soil.
The major factors determining the utilization
of perennial species are traditional tree use,
awareness of methodologies, Lnd the need for
tree products. Most of the farmers prefer to
have at least a few trees in their upland farm
lots and a dense cover in their homegardens
For both shade and food.
Farmers also prefer high-yielding, genetically
improved, drought resistant varieties such as C.
attrantiwm grafted to L. acidissinia. This
combination is advantageous because it
tolerates both droughts and saline soil
conditions, takes up little space and provides
high yields, particularly during the dry seasons.
Farmers feel such species can be interplanted
with the seasonal crops without shading out the
crops or taking up much space. The number of
plants that can be grown along a row isgreater
than with other perennials. Other species that
flourish in the dry zone without inputs or
specific management practices are M.
actuninatacolla, Punicagranattum, Carica
papaya,Moringaoleifera, and M.indica. About
42 percent of the families want to grow C.
nucifera,A. heterophylla and breadfruit (A.
altillis) on their upland farms, while the rest of
the villagers prefer to grow them only in their
homegardens. The households planning to
grow these trees on their upland farms are
wealthier than the rest, owning between 8-10ha
of uplands.
The decision of the villagers to grow trees
was largely determined by the extent of their
land holdings. Most of the near-landless
preferred to grow trees only in their
homegardens. The preferred locations of trees
for specific purposes are presented in Table 3.
The farmers were given training in nursery
management techniques in order to produce
enough seedlings. The most popular species
were given top priority and during the first
phase, 40,000 seedlings of A. indica, C.
attrantlun,Anonasquamosa,A. heterophylla
and C. nuciferawere raised in 20 nurseries.
Production was then continued on a smaller
scale.
Off-farm employment was promoted by the
project. Animal husbandry was expanded by
introducing crossbred animals, particularly in
the dairy program. Training programs on food
processing and preserving were available for
women. The most promising cottage industries
are the extraction of oil from bassia kernels,