Abstract
To understand how various factors influence phenological patterns like fruit production and the extent of phenological variability as survival strategy in different environments, fruit production of shea trees was studied in different agroclimatic zones (North Sudanian, South Sudanian and North Guinean) in Mali. Three sites were selected for this study and in each site; two stands (field and fallow) were concerned. For each stand, three “land use history or land management" i.e. new fields/fallows (1-5 years), medium (6-10 years) and old (10 years) were considered and permanent plots of 0.25 ha were established. 60 adult shea trees (DBH) ≥ 10 cm) were selected by site and monitored for fruit production assessment. The nested analysis of variance on the yield showed a significant site effect and significant effect of land use history within stand. However, stand effect within site was not significant. Factors like site and land management (land use history) appear to be determinant for fruit production of V. paradoxa. The site of Mperesso in the South Sudanian zone showed the highest fruit mean yield (11 kg/tree), significantly higher than the fruit mean yield observed at Daelan (7 kg/tree) in the North Sudanian zone and that observed at Nafégué (6 kg/tree) in the North Guinean zone. For field stand, old fields showed highest mean yield in all sites. For fallow stand, old fallows showed the lowest mean yield in most of cases. Different pattern was observed between field and fallow stands regarding the effect of land management. More fields are aged, more they influence positively fruit production whereas more fallows are aged, and more they influence negatively fruit production. This study highlighted the importance of land management practices and therefore, any domestication program to be successful should consider the potential effect of management practices.
Highlights
Vitellaria paradoxa, a Sapotaceae, is a dominant tree species in many agroforestry parklands in SubSaharan Africa, represented by the sub-species paradoxa in the western part of the distribution area and the sub-species nilotica in the eastern part
Different pattern was observed between field and fallow stands regarding d’Economie Rurale, Programme the effect of land management
Factors like site and land management appear to be determinant for fruit production of this species
Summary
Vitellaria paradoxa (shea tree or karité), a Sapotaceae, is a dominant tree species in many agroforestry parklands in SubSaharan Africa, represented by the sub-species paradoxa in the western part of the distribution area and the sub-species nilotica in the eastern part. This wild tree species is protected and maintained on farmed fields in most of the parklands of Sudanian and Sudano-Guinean zones in West Africa and plays a significant socio-economic role. The total collectible production of Shea butter in 2015 was 600,000 tons valued at 10.6 billions in 2016 [7]
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