Capacity building for land resource management to meet the challenges of food security in Africa. Proceedings of the 21st annual conference 1st-5th Dec, 2003, Eldoret, Kenya
2005
Kihara, J.(TSBF institute of CIAT, Nairobi, Kenya) | Jaenicke, H.(DFID Forestry Research Programme, Natural Resources International Ltd, Park) | Kung'u, J.B.(Kenyatta University, 'Environmental Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya) | Mugendi, D.N.(Kenyatta University, 'Environmental Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya)
Trees are an important component of fanning systems and contribute to human needs both directly through tree products and indirectly through their influence in soil fertility. Efforts by small-scale farmers to increase trees of high value in their farms are hampered by poor quality of seedlings with low survival and slow growth rate. One reason for poor seedling development is Inappropriate chemical and physical properties of the growing media used. This study attempted to find out the effect of these chemical and physical properties of the growing media used by farmers on the seedlings of Tamarindus indica (L.) and Ihe appropriate levels for the species. Therefore, samples of the growing media used in 6 on-farm tree nurseries in two agroecological zones in Mount Kenya region main coffee and marginal coffee zones were collected and tested in an on-statlon experiment at ICRAF headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya. The media were analyzed for chemical (nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium) and physical (pH, total pore volume, aeration pore volume and water holding capacity) properties. The root diameter, seedling height and root and shoot dry weights of seedlings raised in the media were measured periodically. Data were analyzed for variance (ANOVA) using Genstat 4.1 release and treatments compared using Students-Newman-Keuls test. Aeration pore volume, total pore volume and wet bulk density were the physical properties that had greatest influence on seedling quality parameters especially during initial period of growth (up to 75 days). Chemical properties, on the other hand, affected seedling growth and quality parameters at later stages of growth. Important nutrients were observed to be nitrogen, organic carbon, magnesium and calcium. From the findings of this study,farmers can curtail nursery period of Tamarindus indica (L.) from 130 days to as little as 75 days.
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