Monday, September 1, 2014

Gliricidia flowers...

Gliricidia is a common tree species which was introduced into India for green leaf manure I suppose. I dont see many cows have a liking for this though it is also considered as a fodder. 



From wikipedia.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliricidia_sepium) 

The tree is used in many tropical and sub-tropical countries for various purposes such as live fencingfoddercoffee shadefirewood,[4] green manure and rat poison.[5] Live fences can be grown from 1.5 m to 2.0 m stakes of Gliricidia sepium in just a month. Gliricidia can be intercropped with maize. Its effect is that of a potent fertilizer.[6][5]

Because it fixes nitrogen in the soil, it boosts crop yields significantly without the expense of chemical fertilizers. In addition, it tolerates being cut back to crop height year after year. The trees go into a dormant state when they are cut back, so the root system is not competing straight away for the nutrients, and the crop is free to become established. The trees only really start to come out of the dormant phase when the crop is already tall

G. sepium is also used for its medicinal and insect repellent properties. Farmers in Latin America often wash their livestock with a paste made of crushed G. sepium leaves to ward off torsalos. In the Philippines, the extract obtained from its leaves is used to remove external parasites.[2]
G. sepium is a fast-growing ruderal species that takes advantage of slash and burn practices in its native range. Its swift propagation has caused it to be considered as a weed in Jamaica.[3] Because it is easily propagated and grows quickly, it has also been suggested that this species may be planted to reduce topsoil erosion in the initial stages of reforesting denuded areas, an intermediate step to be taken before introducing species that take longer to grow.

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