Abstract
1) Background: Evaluation of Acacia nilotica, Acacia Senegal, Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Khaya senegalensis, Leucaena leucocephala and Prosopis juliflora for growth and interactions with soil and crops for agroforestry development was undertaken on Entisols in the Sudan Sahel region of North Eastern Nigeria. One hundred trees of each species were established at 2 x 2m spacing on a sandy loam entisol by intercropping with beans (Vigna unguiculata) for the initial 2 years. Tree growth was regularly recorded and changes in soil properties as well as yield of Sorghum vulgare on them also evaluated. 2) Results: The tree species recorded more than 60% survival and grew rapidly. The highest annual mean tree girth growth rate of 3.65cm occurred in Leucaena leucocephala, followed by Acacia nilotica (3.61cm), Azadirachta indica (3.01cm), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (2.78cm), Khaya senegalensis (2.72cm), Acacia Senegal (2.55cm) and Prosopis juliflora (2.23cm). The trees accumulated sand and improved nutrient status of the soil under them. Sorghum vulgare crop grown on the forest soils produced higher dry matter yield than the surrounding field soil. The best crop yield of 3.22 g/plant occurred on Leucaena leucocephala soil, followed by Azadirachta indica (2.92 g/plant), Acacia nilotica (2.33 g/plant), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (2.22 g/plant), Prosopis juliflora (1.80 g/plant), Acacia Senegal (1.71 g/plant), the control (1.59 g/plant) and Khaya senegalensis (1.22 g/plant). 3)Conclusions: The study ranked species according to their growth and agroforestry qualities. It also observed some inter-tree species interactions which, when fully developed, will be very useful for scientific management of mixed species tropical agroforests.
Highlights
African Sudan Sahel region, naturally regenerated trees are the major source of domestic wood, medicinal extracts, supplementary food, dry season feed, and soil replenishment (Barrott [1], Verinumbe [2] and Hubert [3])
The present study had the objective to contribute to the resuscitating qualities of four exotics and three local potential farm tree species in a Sudan Sahel region of North Eastern Nigeria
The indigenous Acacia nilotica and Acacia Senegal demonstrated superior survival qualities by recording over 95% survival. They were followed by the exotic Prosopis juliflora, Leucaena leucocephala and Azadirachta indica
Summary
African Sudan Sahel region, naturally regenerated trees are the major source of domestic wood, medicinal extracts, supplementary food, dry season feed, and soil replenishment (Barrott [1], Verinumbe [2] and Hubert [3]). [4], they cannot adequately meet the present demand for their goods and services They are over-exploited leading to ecosystems degradation, desertification and further reduction in productivity In the West African Sudan Sahel region, a major problem hindering the development of the technical packages for successful implementation of this is the lack of systemic information on the potential tree species. The present study had the objective to contribute to the resuscitating qualities of four exotics and three local potential farm tree species in a Sudan Sahel region of North Eastern Nigeria. The exotics include Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Leucaena leucocephala, Azadirachta indica and Prosopis juliflora while the indigenous ones include Acacia nilotica, Acacia Senegal and Khaya senegalensis
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