CULTIVATION TRIALS

The following set of photographs show the progress of cultivation trials carried out in the Nsanje region of southern Malawi in collaboration with the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi. The first seedlings were planted out in December 1989.

[] February 1990 - Despite initial problems of flooding of the plantation site, progress was good with many of the trees reaching heights in excess of 1.5m in 2 months.

[] Februaury 1992 - Pod production is evident. It must be noted that no management of the trees has been carried out. It is reported that by pollarding the trees at an early stage will promote lower branch growth. This is an important factor when considering ease of harvesting.

[] March 1993 - All trees have grown to some considerable size, however, the lack of tree management has resulted in significant top branching. It is of interest to note those trees with double stems. These arose from damage to the tuber at an early stage of growth, the damaged tuber region gives rise to a second stem - and in some cases a third stem.

[] February 1994 - The trees are very mature, again, unfortunately, photographed outside the podding season. Although a large termite mound can be seen close to the trees no damage was reported. From these experiences and from the literature it would appear that M.oleifera does show resistance to some types of termites, in other areas of the world termites have proved to be a serious problem.

The photograph above show trees in a village in the Nsanje region. Unlike the plantation trees, these are frequently pollarded hence their 'stubby' appearance. The leaves are harvested regularly and used as a green vegetable. This does show that M.oleifera responds positively to tree management strategies. These aspects are currently being pursued with the Kenya Forestry Research Institute under European Commission funding.