Dear Readers Welcome to the 38th issue of One article features Salvadora You might also fi nd interesting APANews! This issue features oleoides, a small multipurpose an article that discusses how interesting articles on potential tree that produces desert grapes. agroforestry can help address the species that could be integrated in Aside from its fruits, the tree is also plight of farmers in India. The agroforestry systems and fi ndings tapped for oil, fodder and wood. author provides a refresher on of documentation on agroforestry Read more about the important the benefi ts of agroforestry and models in Viet Nam and India. uses of this species including its its capabilities to provide basic origin, distribution and how it needs, restore land productivity, One article presents the profi les of can be propagated and protected. reduce soil erosion and improve different agroforestry models that The article also discusses how soil fertility. Read more on how exist in northern and central Viet the species can be conserved ex the adoption of agroforestry can Nam, including the mangrove areas. situ and through gene banks and help improve the quality of life The article discusses agroforestry cryogenebanks. of farmers in India as they have models based on landscape, and improved the lives of others who available knowledge and policies The other article, meanwhile, have practiced its different systems. in implementing agroforestry. Find discusses Pongamia pinnata as out how the fi ndings of this study an alternative source of biofuel. As always, we feature interesting were used to identify the challenges Find out how Pongamia pinnata events, websites and information and gaps that would further can be tapped as a biofuel and resources that you might fi nd improve Viet Nam’s agroforestry consequently help augment the useful as you adopt and practice research and development in the global supply of petrofuel. agroforestry and its various support next fi ve years. Areas of focus are technologies. agroforestry approaches, land- Another article from Viet Nam use planning based on landscape discusses Agarwood (Aquilaria Thank you once again to all the and sociocultural economy, crassna), a popular source contributors. Let us continue agroforestry techniques, functions of wood chips, incense and sharing knowledge in agroforestry of agroforestry in environmental essential oils. The article discusses research, promotion and services, and policy development. agarwood’s morphology, ecology development, and education. As and distribution, propagation, we share knowledge, we also learn Two articles from India present transplanting techniques and from it, and more importantly use it species that could pose additional inoculation. Read more about the to improve lives. —The Editors income to farmers if successfully benefi ts of agarwood and how it integrated in agroforestry systems. can be integrated successfully in agroforestry farms. DISCLAIMER. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delineation of its frontiers and boundaries. The views expressed in this publication are those of the contributing authors and do not necessarily refl ect the view of the editor(s) of FAO. OUR ADDRESS. FAO Regional Offi ce for Asia and the Pacifi c, 39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. Website: http://www.fao.org and http://www.fao.or.th; E-mail: [email protected]. PRODUCTION. Patrick B. Durst, Janice Naewboonnien, Roberto G. Visco (Editorial Consultants); Rowena D. Cabahug (Editor); and Perseveranda G. Tubig and Reinelen M. Reyes (Production Assistants) COVER. Pongamia pinnata is a nitrogen-fi xing tree tree that produces seeds containing 45 percent oil. The oil is tapped as a substitute for biodiesel (see story on page 14). PRINTER. Thammada Press Co. Ltd., 86 Soi 50 /1 Charansanitwong Road, Bangplad, Bangkok 10700, Thailand. 2 Asia-Pacifi c Agroforestry Newsletter • No. 38 • July 2011 suckers. Seedlings also sprout under Promoting the use of Salvadora its shade. The species, however, is very slow growing. The branches are often lopped for camel and goat oleoides as a multipurpose fodder. agroforestry species Under favorable conditions, S. oleoides grows up to 6-9 m R. Raj Bhansali ([email protected]) high with a trunk of up to 2 m in diameter. The bark is light gray to gray. The leaves are fl eshy and Deserts occupy an estimated one- The topography of the Thar Desert have a pungent smell. The shape of seventh of India’s land surface. is distinctly marked with sand, the lamina is linear lanceolate, and Moisture is either absent or very scattered rocky ridges and steep leaf size ranges from 3-10 cm x 0.3- low. Deserts depend solely on the slopes. Topography and climatic 1.2 cm. New leaves usually appear balance between precipitation and factors play a signifi cant role in in April. evaporation. determining vegetation types. Most of the vegetation consists of The tree generally fl owers in Deserts have played a key role in stunted, thorny or prickly shrubs of March-April. The fl owers are human evolution and adaptation. Acacia senegal, Capparis decidua, sessile, greenish white in color The Thar Desert, one of the largest Calotropis procera, Calligonum and clustered. Infl orescence is deserts in India, occupies about polygonoides, Prosopis cineraria, paniculate spike. 60 percent of Rajasthan state. Most Salvadora oleoides, and S. persica areas in the Thar Desert consist of (Gupta and Prakash 1975). The fruits are drupe, clustered, dry undulating plains of hardened and grow up to 0.40-0.45 cm sand, while the rest of the area Salvadora oleoides, popularly in diameter. They are yellow or largely comprises rolling plains of known as pilu, is a small, greenish yellow when ripe, and are loose sand that form shifting sand multipurpose agroforestry tree sweet with a bit of pungent taste. dunes which are 2–10 km long and commonly grown in western In some cases, the fruits are pink 20–30 m high. Rajasthan and Gujarat states of and violet (Figure 2). The fruits can India (Kaul 1963). S. oleoides is also be harvested in June. The Thar Desert is one of the called jhal, bahapilu and khakan. Distribution most heavily populated (in The tree is primarily sourced for its terms of both people and cattle) fruits known as desert grapes. The S. oleoides is commonly found in deserts in the world. The animal seeds are also sources of oil used in tropical Africa and Asia, extending and human populations exert the manufacture of soaps. to Egypt, the Mascarene Islands and tremendous pressure on the scant China. The indigenous tree grows vegetation in the region. Plants Species profi le on dry, saline and desert areas are thus vulnerable to becoming Salvadora oleoides is a small of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, endangered. Inherent biological evergreen tree with a short, twisted Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. problems associated with these trunk and drooping branches that S. oleoides, as well as S. persica, plants make their survival diffi cult, provide a thick shade (Figure 1). grows well in the sand dunes of resulting in forced adaptation to the A dense, almost impenetrable deserts to heavy soils, non-saline to desert’s harsh environment. growth is often formed by a parent highly saline soils and dry regions stem surrounded by a ring of root Continued on page 4 Fig. 1 Salvadora oleoides tree with its drooping branches. Fig.F 2 The fruits of S. oleoides vary from yyellow, greenish yellow, pink and violet. Agroforestry Research 3 Promoting the use... S. oleoides and Capparis decidua toothache. The fruits are used as Continued from 3 form the major arboreal part a cure for enlarged spleens, fever of the fl ora in these areas. The and rheumatism. The seeds are also to marshy and waterlogged areas tree species is also suitable for used to cure rheumatic pain, as (Figure 3). shelterbelts and windbreaks in arid suppositories and an ointment base. zones, and used to reduce soil The leaves, meanwhile, are used to The species adapts well to arid erosion. It survives at an altitude of relieve coughs, and given to horses conditions and is salt-tolerant and 1 000 m (Khan 1955; Kaul 1963; as a purgative. The leaves are also drought-resistant. It is distributed Khan 1994). The plant tolerates good sand binders. to some extent in Andhra Pradesh, temperatures between 3 to 48°C. Propagation Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It S. oleoides can be found growing is also found in the Sunderban in groups of up to 50-500 trees S. oleoides can be regenerated by mangroves of West Bengal and in in its natural population, and can seeds, coppices and root suckers. the regions of Chilka lagoons. The age up to 150 years old. Natural However, very little information tree species is known to tolerate a populations of S. oleoides can be is available regarding seed very dry environment with mean found in northwest India. germination. Natural regeneration rainfall of less than 200 mm in of plants from seeds is rare, Barmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, and Pali Uses probably because seeds mature at districts of Rajasthan (Figure 4) S. oleoides is known for its fruits or the onset of the monsoon season. (Bhandari 1990). the popular desert grapes. The pulp Seeds are therefore susceptible of desert grapes contains glucose, to fungal attack (Mertia and fructose and sucrose with Total Kunhamu 2003). Soluble Solid (TSS) as high as 20- 25OB. It is rich in calcium. The seeds of S. oleoides are not stored because viability TThe tree is often lopped for fodder is not retained. It is therefore tot increase milk production in recommended that fruits camels.