Strengthening livelihood resilience in upper catchments of dry areas by integrated natural resources management

The Livelihood Resilience project evolved around the hypothesis that better integrated management can improve the livelihoods of poor farming communities and increase the environmental integrity and water productivity of upstream watersheds in dry areas. This hypothesis was tested by researchers from different Iranian research and executive organizations and farming communities in two benchmark research watersheds in upper Karkheh River Basin in Iran, under the guidance of the ICARDA scientists. Participatory technology development, water, soil, erosion, land degradation and vegetation assessments, livelihood, gender and policy analyses, and integrated workshops delivered a set of principles for watershed management in dry areas

Wheat growth as influenced by application of agroforestry-tree prunings in Ethiopian highlands

The response of wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. ‘Enkoy’) to application of leaf prunings of nine agroforestry-tree species was investigated in a field trial and a six-week pot trial. The tree species were Grevillea robusta, Erythrina abyssinica, Gliricidia sepium, Albizia schimperiana, Acacia nilotica, Acacia polyacantha, Leucaena leucocephala, Leucaena pallida and Entada abyssinica. L. leucocephala, L. pallida, G. sepium and Entada abyssinica proved to be good pruning sources in the pot trial. G. robusta, A. polyacantha, A. nilotica and E. abyssinica had adverse effects on wheat seedlings with increased pruning loads probably due to immobilization processes or allelopathic effects. N and lignin content, C/N ratio, lignin/N ratio, phenolics/N ratio and (phenolics + lignin)/N ratio of the pruning material were all significantly correlated with shoot dry matter production of the wheat seedlings. With the exception of Entada abyssinica, which performed well under field conditions, a similar ranking as in the pot trial was established in the field experiment, but at harvest differences were not as pronounced as in the pot trial. Gliricidia treated wheat produced by far the highest grain yield with 248 g/m2

Nitrogen mineralization pattern of agroforestry tree leaves under tropical highland conditions

Leaves of nine agroforestry tree species (Grevillea robusta, Erythrina abyssinica, Gliricidia sepium, Albizia schimperiana. Acacia nilotica. Acacia polyacantha, Leu-caena leucocephala, Leucaena pallida and Entada abys-sinica) were compared in a glasshouse incubation experiment under natural temperature conditions to relate the observed nitrogen mineralization pattern to quality factors of the mulch material such as N, lignin, phenolic and tannin content and C/N ratio, lignin/N ratio, phenolic/N ratio and (lignin -I- phenolics)/N ratio. Separation of the plant material into leaflets and petioles/rachis or into leaves and petioles with subsequent chemical analyses revealed large differences in the quality of the material not only between species but also amongst plant parts within the same species. Erythrina abyssinica, G. sepium, L. leucocephala and L. pallida had a rapid nitrogen release especially during the early sampling dates and were superior compared with mulch treatments of G. robusta, A. polyacantha, and Entada abyssinica. Immobilization processes started around 5 weeks after incubation and continued up to the end of the experiment, 9 weeks after incubation. N and lignin content, C/N ratio, lignin/N ratio, phenolics/N ratio and (phenolics + lignin)/N ratio were all significantly correlated with mineralized nitrogen after 3 weeks but their influence in driving the mineralization pattern decreased with incubation time

Plant nutrient supply from nine agroforestry tree species to wheat (Triticum aestivum) analysed by vector diagnosis

Six-week-old wheat seedlings (Triticum aestivum) grown in pots with an alfisol soil with vertic properties and mulched at a rate equivalent to 10 t ha−1 with leaf prunings of Grevillea robusta, Erythrina abyssinica, Gliricidia sepium, Albizia schimperiana. Acacia nilotica. Acacia polyacantha, Leucaena leucocephala, Leucaena pallida and Entada abyssinica were used to diagnose nutrient contributions by these tree species. A control treatment of 20kg P+ 30kg N ha−1 was chosen as the reference treatment for the vector analysis applied to the mulch effects. Nitrogen was found to be the most important nutrient in seedlings mulched with L. pallida, L. leucocephala, Erythrina abyssinica and to a lesser extent A. schimperiana. Other nutrients of these mulches were also in the deficiency zone but with shorter vectors and therefore with lower impact. Since all these mulches showed increased values for shoot dry weight, nutrient concentration and nutrient uptake they have still reserves for further plant growth and appear therefore to be good mulch sources for annual crops. In contrast, wheat seedlings treated with A. polyacantha and Entada abyssinica had at least some vectors in the toxic zone due to an excess of nutrients while Grevillea treated plants showed a typical toxicity response with large vectors for all nutrients in between the toxic and the antagonistic zone. Allelopathic compounds might also have been involved