Forty-nine accessions of multipurpose trees belonging to 37 species were planted at Makoka, Malawi, on a ferric lixisol at 1030 m altitude, unimodal rainfall (average 1044 mm per annum) and a dry season lasting 6 months. Two years after planting, 25 accessions showed > 90% survival and most fast growth and high biomass production. The ranges of growth parameters in these accessions were 3.2–7.1 m height, 7.0–15.4 cm collar diameter, and 18–40 t ha1 total above ground biomass. Potential biomass production obtained from coppice regrowth in the best accessions was 5.0–13.7 t ha1 per year.The best performing species were Calliandra calothyrsus, Acrocarpus fraxinifolius, Gliricidia sepium, Cassia spectabilis, Cassia siamea, Flemingia congesta and Albizia falcataria. of the 18 Australian species tested, only Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia shirleyi and Acacia julifera showed satisfactory growth. Cassia brewsterii, Acacia ampliceps and Acacia victoriae failed to grow. Other species showing poor performance included Prosopis species and Robinia pseudoacacia.
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-1127(94)90291-7Altmetric score:
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Publication year
1994
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
agroforestry, biomass, growth, leguminosae, mimosoideae, multipurpose trees, yields
Geographic
Malawi
