Nitrogen-fixing trees for tropics/subtropics:
- Moringa
- Leucaena
- Gliricidia
- Albizia
- Acacia
- Casuarina
Leucaena
Leucaena leucocephala (River tamarind) is a small fast-growing mimosoid tree native to southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize and Guatemala) and is now naturalized throughout the tropics. It is classified as invasive weed in Florida (https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/leucaena-leucocephala/). It is also called lead tree.
L. leucocephala is used for a variety of purposes, such as firewood, fiber, and livestock fodder. During the 1970s and 1980s, it was promoted as a "miracle tree" for its multiple uses. It has also been described as a "conflict tree" because it is used for forage production but spreads like a weed in some places. It grows quickly and forms dense thickets that crowd out all native vegetation.
It also efficient in nitrogen fixation, at more than 500 kg/ha/year. It has a very fast growth rate: young trees reach a height of more than 20 ft in two to three years.
The young pods are edible.
Gliricidia
Gliricidia sepium (common names: quickstick, madre xacao or madre de cacao in the Philippines and Guatemala) is a medium size leguminous tree belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is considered to be the second most important multi-purpose legume tree, surpassed only by Leucaena leucocephala.
The generic name Gliricidia means "mouse killer" in reference to the traditional use of its toxic seeds and bark as rodenticides.
G. sepium was spread from its native range throughout the tropics to shade plantation crops such as coffee. Today it is used for many other purposes including live fencing, fodder, firewood, green manure, intercropping, and rat poison. Its use expanded following the widespread defoliation of Leucaena by psyllid in the 1980s.
G. sepium is used as cut and carry forage for cattle, sheep, and goats. Its high protein content allows it to complement low-quality tropical forages. G. sepium can tolerate repeated cutting, every 2 to 4 months depending on the climate. Cutting G. sepium causes it to retain its leaves during the dry season when many forage crops have lost their leaves. In some cases it is the only source of forage feed during the dry season.
G. sepium trees are used for intercropping in part because they fix nitrogen in the soil and tolerate low soil fertility, so when they are interplanted with crops they can boost crop yields significantly, without the need of chemical fertilizers. The common name madre de cacao (literally "mother of cacao" in Spanish) used in Central America and the Philippines is in reference to its traditional use as shade trees for cocoa tree plantations.
G. Sepium tolerates being cut back to crop height, and can even be coppiced, year after year. When the trees are cut back, they enter a temporary dormant state during which their root systems do not compete for nutrients needed by the crops, so the crops can establish themselves.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucaena_leucocephala
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliricidia_sepium
Showing posts with label Nitrogen fixing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nitrogen fixing. Show all posts
Leucaena leucocephala is legume tree that feeds your fruit trees and provides chop-and-drop mulch
Leucaena leucocephala is a small fast-growing mimosoid tree which. It is a legume, and therefore, nitrogen fixing. Leucaena leucocephala is very efficient in nitrogen fixation, at more than 500 kg/ha/year. It has a very fast growth rate: young trees reach a height of more than 20 ft in two to three years.
It is native to southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize and Guatemala) and is now naturalized throughout the tropics. Common names include white leadtree, jumbay, river tamarind, subabul, and white popinac.
During the 1970s and 1980s, it was promoted as a "miracle tree" for its multiple uses. It has also been described as a "conflict tree" because it is used for forage production but spreads like a weed in some places.
From Geoff Lawton: "With the cooler weather of winter arriving at the Greening the Desert Project in Jordan, it’s time to chop-and-drop. The dense canopy that has grown over the summer needs to be opened up to allow in both the sun and rain. The canopy will change radically, and the thinning will enable trees beneath it to grow. The dropped material will add lots of organic mulch and nitrogen to the soil, feeding and protecting the soil life. This is how we design the way a forest grows and falls.
For those not aware, placing nitrogen-fixing legume trees between fruit trees will provide natural fertilization on the root level, as well as through the chop-and-drop of the mulching material. There should also be ground covers, often more nitrogen-fixing plants or herbs to distract/attract insects or forage crops for grazing animals, which provides even more natural fertilization as they munch along. In essence, we are assembling support plants and other elements to continuously benefit our productive trees without us having to regularly interact with the system.
Leucaena is the main chop-and-drop tree we’re using here, and it produces a very nitrogen-rich mulch as well as small branches that can be cured into firewood. The trees are pollarded to about head height, removing all foliage to be piled around the base of the trees. Then, the leucaena can regrow several meters throughout a year (Other trees, such as Jerusalem thorn and hibiscus, are performing similar functions but to a lesser extent). This cycle produces a tremendous amount of carbon and organic matter to form quality humus on the forest floor every year.
In the case of a leucaena, within a month of pollarding, lots of sprouts will have emerged along the tree’s trunk and from around the cuts. These tender shoots should be snapped off by hand on a weekly basis, fostering the growth of just three or four vertical branches over the next year. This will keep the trees from crowding the understory, as well as constantly feed the soil with new material. Done on a weekly basis, the pruning is possible by hand, but left longer, cutting back the branches will require a saw. Over time, the damaged areas from where branches have been pruned will develop scar tissue, which prevents new growth in that spot.
The chop-and-drop system feeds the soil and helps to develop fungal systems and mycelium webs to structure the soil nicely. This is how we can use the fast functioning of weedy, legume species to build new forests by design. From there, we adjust to the site’s evolution, adding and amending irrigation here and there. The pollarded trees will regrow over the winter such that they provide shade in the summer when needed, and the healthy cycle repeats."
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucaena_leucocephala
It is native to southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize and Guatemala) and is now naturalized throughout the tropics. Common names include white leadtree, jumbay, river tamarind, subabul, and white popinac.
During the 1970s and 1980s, it was promoted as a "miracle tree" for its multiple uses. It has also been described as a "conflict tree" because it is used for forage production but spreads like a weed in some places.
From Geoff Lawton: "With the cooler weather of winter arriving at the Greening the Desert Project in Jordan, it’s time to chop-and-drop. The dense canopy that has grown over the summer needs to be opened up to allow in both the sun and rain. The canopy will change radically, and the thinning will enable trees beneath it to grow. The dropped material will add lots of organic mulch and nitrogen to the soil, feeding and protecting the soil life. This is how we design the way a forest grows and falls.
For those not aware, placing nitrogen-fixing legume trees between fruit trees will provide natural fertilization on the root level, as well as through the chop-and-drop of the mulching material. There should also be ground covers, often more nitrogen-fixing plants or herbs to distract/attract insects or forage crops for grazing animals, which provides even more natural fertilization as they munch along. In essence, we are assembling support plants and other elements to continuously benefit our productive trees without us having to regularly interact with the system.
Leucaena is the main chop-and-drop tree we’re using here, and it produces a very nitrogen-rich mulch as well as small branches that can be cured into firewood. The trees are pollarded to about head height, removing all foliage to be piled around the base of the trees. Then, the leucaena can regrow several meters throughout a year (Other trees, such as Jerusalem thorn and hibiscus, are performing similar functions but to a lesser extent). This cycle produces a tremendous amount of carbon and organic matter to form quality humus on the forest floor every year.
In the case of a leucaena, within a month of pollarding, lots of sprouts will have emerged along the tree’s trunk and from around the cuts. These tender shoots should be snapped off by hand on a weekly basis, fostering the growth of just three or four vertical branches over the next year. This will keep the trees from crowding the understory, as well as constantly feed the soil with new material. Done on a weekly basis, the pruning is possible by hand, but left longer, cutting back the branches will require a saw. Over time, the damaged areas from where branches have been pruned will develop scar tissue, which prevents new growth in that spot.
The chop-and-drop system feeds the soil and helps to develop fungal systems and mycelium webs to structure the soil nicely. This is how we can use the fast functioning of weedy, legume species to build new forests by design. From there, we adjust to the site’s evolution, adding and amending irrigation here and there. The pollarded trees will regrow over the winter such that they provide shade in the summer when needed, and the healthy cycle repeats."
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucaena_leucocephala
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)