ISHS Acta Horticulturae 756: International Symposium on Medicinal and Nutraceutical Plants
PRUNING STRATEGIES TO MAXIMIZE LEAF PRODUCTION OF POLLARDED MORINGA (MORINGA OLEIFERA LAM.) TREE SEEDLINGS |
| Authors: | G.W. Crosby, L.E. Craker |
| Keywords: | agroforestry, drought tolerance, medicinal and aromatic plant, vegetable tree |
| Abstract:
Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is a small multipurpose tree with many medicinal and nutritional uses that can withstand severe drought, persisting in areas where at times little else will grow. Cultivated in the dry tropics as a perennial vegetable tree, moringa is often pollarded to encourage lateral bud release and new shoot growth. Little information, however, is available regarding the management of tree standards following pollarding. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of four pruning strategies on leaf biomass production of 24 single-stem seedlings (mean height = 197.7 cm, mean caliper = 2.4 cm) that had been pollarded at 150 cm. Defoliated (DEF) plants released fewer lateral buds per node at more nodal points along the stem and provided dry weight yields similar to other treatments after a single harvest, but had inadequate regrowth for a second harvest. Pruning laterals that grew following pollarding to 10 cm (LP10) encouraged the release of more lateral buds per node on fewer nodes. Harvesting two lateral stems every 30 days (2S30), or when six fully expanded leaves were present on each stem (6LPS) provided significantly greater dry weight yields than DEF or LP10 treatments. Harvested biomass from plants with the six fully expanded leaves gave a 76:24 leaf:stem ratio and a dry weight that was 18% of fresh weight. No lateral buds were released on non-pollarded seedlings. Harvesting shoots when six fully expanded leaves are present is a useful guideline and provided 1.36 g dry weight∙plant-1∙day-1, or approximately 20 t ha-1 yr-1 when planted at 40,000 plants ha-1. Harvesting shoots at 30-day intervals worked well under the conditions of this study, but may not necessarily be appropriate for other growing locations. Horticultural practices that encourage sustainable production of moringa leaves using iterative growth processes will assist in meeting the nutritional needs of families in developing regions of the world. | |
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