Abstract
SUMMARY Gliricidia maculata (syn G. sepium) is a fast growing, leguminous, medium sized, thornless tree which can substitute for Leucaena leucocephala as a source of fodder, fuelwood and green manure, in hedges and living fences, and as a shade tree in tea, coffee, and cocoa plantations. It grows in lowland areas of the tropics having mean annual temperatures of 22–30°C. and rainfall of 800–1700mm, and is much easier to establish than leucaena. The foliage has a crude protein content of 20–30 per cent, and recent research reviewed in this paper confirms the value of gliricidia as a feed supplement for sheep and cattle. Feeding gliricidia to ewes in Sri Lanka as 25 per cent of total feed led to increased voluntary feed intake, weight changes before lambing, percentage lambing, and survival of ewes and lambs, compared with a diet consisting only of grass. Lamb growth rates were almost doubled. No further benefits were obtained by increasing gliricidia to more than 25 per cent of total feed. No detrimental s...
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