Poster presented at the International Leucaena Conference, 1‒3 November 2018, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

1. This poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0) 2018-10. Design: JL Urrea.
Rainer Schultze-Kraft, Finca La Siberia, Ginebra, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. (rainer.schultzekraft@gmail.com)
Elevation
1,000 masl
Annualrainfall
1,200mm (bimodal distribution)
Soil: cracking-clay. Farm about 15 ha for fattening of bulls grazing on
improved pastures: African star and guinea grass (cv. Tobiatã),
Brachiaria spp., Arachis pintoi and leucaena (occasionally cut back).
Establishment of leucaena, broadcast and/or in rows:
Leafy and highly palatable forage
Municipality of Ginebra, Valle del Cauca,
in the foothills region of the Andes´
central range, at about 3.7° N, 76.2° W.
During 10–15 years there were benefits from a number of leucaena´s
important features:
After the first years, plants became increasingly affected by pests
(psyllids, leafcutter ants) and diseases (possibly camptomeris leaf spot).
This, probably in combination with the marginal adaptation of leucaena
to the prevailing clay soil (with occasional poor drainage), led to
considerable weakening of the plantation with stunted regrowth and
eventual death of many plants.
Becauseofthesetbacksmentioned,theroleofleucaenainthefarmisnow
reduced to essentially a shade-providing tree with associated benefits not
onlyforpasturevegetationandgrazinglivestock,butalsotobiodiversityin
general. Even when looked at from the space, our leucaena silvopastoral
system still stands out as the only wooded area in the whole vicinity.
The lack of adaptation to the soil
becomes also evident by adult
trees getting easily uprooted by
rainy-season winds.
Since about 5 years there is
progressive drying off of branches
in adult leucaena and eventual
death of the entire tree, probably caused by the fungus, Ganoderma
lucidum. However, some spontaneous tree regeneration from seeds can
be observed.
Issues
Epilogue
Location and establishment
Nitrogen fixation Fenceposts and firewood
Vigorous regrowth even in the
dry season
Drought tolerance, even on
cracking clay
Benefits
A smallholder´s experience with leucaena
in the Cauca valley, Southwest Colombia
©2018DigitalGlobe
GINEBRA
VALLE
DEL CAUCA
Averagetemperature
24°C