13688: Jaffe Re: 13654: Busey: Re: 13647: Lyall asks "leguminous trees?" (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JoAnn Jaffe <joann.jaffe@uregina.ca>

(Not to encourage a magic bullet approach, but..) Pwoje Sove Te (Southwest
Haiti 1987-1991) tested and tried a variety of materials in hedgerows.
Several interesting and innovative ideas emerged, and of course as Busey
indicates below, there is no one right answer for every situation. In the
drier areas of our project area, we found quite a bit of interest in
Prosopis, commonly known as mesquite. It is also fast-growing and
leguminous, and the pods are edible by livestock and humans. It produces a
high quality firewood and charcoal. It also regrows quickly after being cut.
We were also exploring the possibility of farming Prosopis firewood and
charcoal during this time on very marginal lands, but the project was cut
short.

I remember that there was a large test of several different varieties of
mesquite in progress in the Northwest during the same period. Does anyone on
the list have more info?

JoAnn Jaffe

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Corbett" <corbetre@webster.edu>
To: "Haiti mailing list" <haiti@lists.webster.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 9:46 AM
Subject: 13654: Busey: Re: 13647: Lyall asks "leguminous trees?" (fwd)


>
> From: Philip Busey <philip@ayiti.com>
>
> I think you may be referring to this article from August 22, 2002:
> http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1290999
>
> There are a number of fast-growing legumes that have been used in the
> tropics to produce forage and improve the soil by their association with
> nitrogen fixing microorganisms.  The tree species have the added
> benefits of providing firewood and fitting into hedgerows, and in some
> cases they may be used either in rotation or as a companion crop along
> with annual cultures.  Some even have a degree of shade tolerance, so as
> has been shown in Australasia, it may even be possible to have a
> perennial tree overstory such as palms, and a mixture of grasses and
> legumes in the grazed understory.  Most of the fast-growing leguminous
> trees, including Leucaena leucocephala, are fairly weedy, so propagation
> and establishment are not serious challenges.  But it takes research and
> proper timing to marry the right legume with the right annual crop.
>
> In my opinion, much of the drier areas of Haiti would be more suitable
> for naturalized grasses which would do the best job of soil
> conservation, if managed as a perennial ecosystm in a careful paddock
> rotation.  Legumes would have a place in hedgerows and extra source of
> browse for goats.
>
> Philip Busey
>
>
> Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 13:55:55 -0600 (CST)
> From: "Bob Corbett" <corbetre@webster.edu>
> To: "Haiti mailing list" <haiti@lists.webster.edu>
> Subject: 13647: Lyall asks "leguminous trees?" (fwd)
>
> It was my copy of the Economist where  we saw  the
> report on "leguminous trees" from  some UN development
> group.
>
> What are these mysterious beanish  trees?
>
> >      Or maybe they could promote the growing of leguminous trees that
> >      grow eight
> >      feet in a year, replenish the soil and then can be used for
> >      firewood. (Saw
> >      it in the economist a few months back)
> >
> >
> >
> >We started the tree project with the charcoal ladies in the north,
> >coaching
> >them on planting in rotation so they can harvest the smaller branches in
> >rotation, they can plant them around someone's garden, given them proper
> >patchy
> >shade for the garden, the leaves fall and fertilize -- win, win for
> >everyone.
>