Effect of organo-mineral fertilisation and agricultural lime amendment on the development of Leucaena leucocephala seedlings

This article provides an overview of a recent field experiment in under alley cropping conditions with maize at Farako in the Sudano-Guinean zone of Mali that looked at the effects of organo-mineral fertilisation and agricultural lime amendment on the development of Leucaena leucocephala seedlings.

L. leucocephala plants after cutting at 1 m from the ground in Farako

Maize plants in L. leucocephala alleys in Farako

Presentation of fruiting L. leucocephala seedlings after systematic cutting at 1 m from the ground at Farako substation Source S. Macalou

Presentation of fruiting L. leucocephala seedlings after systematic cutting at 1 m from the ground at Farako substation. Source S. Macalou

Density of Leucaena leucocephala plants

After two growing years, the average density of L. leucocephala plants was 3,113 plants/ha compared with a theoretical density of 3,888 plants/ha. This result shows that after replanting one year after planting, plant loss was very minimal in the study plot. Also, the effect of the type of fertilisation did not play a major role in the survival of L. leucocephala seedlings.

Quantity of above-ground biomass of L. leucocephala

As with density, the different fertilisation options had no significant effect on biomass production (P = 0.6855). In terms of stem biomass, an average of 1444.74 kg/ha was recorded. The highest quantities were observed in fertilisation options F5 and F4, with 2069 kg/ha and 1902 kg/ha respectively. As for stem biomass, fertilisation options F5 and F4 performed better, with the highest quantities of leaf biomass. The average amount of leaf biomass recorded was 1298 kg/ha, compared with 1673 kg/ha and 1687 kg/ha for F5 and F4 respectively.

Height growth of L. leucocephala plants three and six months after stem cutting

At the beginning of the third vegetative year, 22 months after planting, all L. leucocephala plants were systematically cut at 1 m above the ground. An assessment of the height growth of the shoots at 3 and 6 months after cutting revealed rapid regrowth of the plants of the species. Average shoot height increases of 72 cm and 106 cm were observed 3 and 6 months after cutting, respectively. Thus, the current monthly growth of L. leucocephala stem shoots is estimated at 20 cm. It can be seen that factors such as the after-effects of cotton fertilisation, the incorporation of prunings from cut plants, the rapid development of L. leucocephala plant shoots was caused by four factors:

The after-effects of cotton and/or maize fertilisation,
The effect of the incorporation of leaf biomass and
the good rainfall in 2023-2024 contributed positively to the development of L. leucocephala plants.
Shelton and Brewbaker (1994) have shown that L. leucocephala plants develop well in isohyets between 800 and 1500 mm.