STATUS OF VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION OF BAOBAB: A REVIEW

The African baobab ( Adansonia digitata L.) is a large tree of great socio-economic and cultural importance in Africa, with almost all the parts of the species used for various purposes. A major concern about baobab fruit pulp production is the long time it takes for first fruiting (about 15 years). Vegetative propagation offers several advantages with regard to consumers\u2019 preferences and precociousness of fructification. The objective of this study was to synthesise existent knowledge related to vegetative propagation methods of baobab and examine future prospects for improving the species propagation. This will ultimately contribute to better integrate baobab-based agroforestry systems into the diversification and poverty alleviation programmes. It is clear that cutting, grafting and in vitro multiplication are the vegetative propagation methods already tested on baobab. The success of grafting methods ranges from 10 to 89%, depending on the technique used. The Murashige and Skoog environment, supplemented with or without growth regulator hormones is by far the best condition for the in vitro reactivity of baobab explants, regardless of their types. With regards to cuttings, the average success rates stand around 30% when Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) hormone is used. Other approaches such as marcotting techniques are yet to be tested and data on fruit production using these techniques are still needed in order to determine the best promising method for rapid and efficient vegetative propagation of baobab.Adansonia digitata L. est un grand arbre d\u2019importance socio-\ue9conomique et culturelle en Afrique. Toutes les parties de l\u2019arbre sont utilis\ue9es \ue0 diverses fins. L\u2019une des principales pr\ue9occupations concernant la pulpe de baobab est le temps n\ue9cessaire \ue0 la premi\ue8re fructification de l\u2019arbre (environ 15 ans). La multiplication v\ue9g\ue9tative pr\ue9sente plusieurs avantages en ce qui concerne les pr\ue9f\ue9rences des consommateurs et permet la pr\ue9cocit\ue9 de fructification. Ce travail a synth\ue9tis\ue9 les connaissances actuelles sur les m\ue9thodes de propagation v\ue9g\ue9tative du baobab et a discut\ue9 des perspectives futures pour l\u2019int\ue9gration des syst\ue8mes agroforestiers \ue0 base de baobab dans les programmes de diversification agricole et de r\ue9duction de la pauvret\ue9. Les r\ue9sultats ont montr\ue9 que le bouturage, le greffage et la multiplication in vitro sont les m\ue9thodes de multiplication v\ue9g\ue9tative d\ue9j\ue0 test\ue9es sur le baobab \ue0 ce jour. Le succ\ue8s du greffage varie de 10 \ue0 89% selon la technique de greffage utilis\ue9e. L\u2019environnement Murashige and Skoog compl\ue9t\ue9 avec ou sans phytohormones de croissance est \ue0 l\u2019heure actuelle la meilleure condition pour la r\ue9activit\ue9 in vitro des explants de baobab, quels que soient leurs types. En ce qui concerne le bouturage, le taux de r\ue9ussite moyen s\u2019\ue9levait \ue0 30% avec utilisation de l\u2019hormone Acide Indole-3-butyrique (IBA). D\u2019autres approches telles que la technique du marcottage a\ue9rien devront \ueatre test\ue9es. Aussi, les donn\ue9es sur la production de fruits issus de ces techniques sont n\ue9cessaires. Ces informations permettront de d\ue9terminer la meilleure m\ue9thode \ue0 recommander pour une propagation v\ue9g\ue9tative rapide et efficace du baobab