Abstract

As part of the national plan to combat desertification, the Burkina Faso authorities intend to introduce Acacia Albida in village agroforestry programs. The species produces firewood and animal forage. It also improves soil fertility and crop yields reducing the need for mineral fertilizers. Unfortunately, extreme variations exist between individual plants, limiting the effectiveness of a widespread planting program. This project will investigate the causes of this variability and identify clones of high productivity for mass multiplication and use in the national planting program.

Post-Project Summary

The researchers carried out the following activities: tests to determine how new clippings are affected by the age of the plant, hormonal treatments and the time of the year that the clipping is taken; comparisons of five methods of propagation on the survival of the plants; behavioural analyses of plants from 40 different origins including eight from Burkina Faso, the others originating from eight African countries; evaluations of the effect of inoculating young plants raised in nurseries with Rhizobium, endomycorrhizal fungi, and Rhizobium plus endomycorrhizal fungi; and field trials with inoculated plants. The results enabled the researchers to identify the best period for rhizogenesis, i.e., between April and September; to confirm that potted seedlings remain the best way of introducing the Acacia albida; to observe the great variability between the plants from the 40 different sources and a strong heterogeneity in the growth of the plants from the same source; to demonstrate that inoculation with endomycorrhizal fungus colonies increases significantly the growth in height of plants (72-104% depending on the mycorrhizal fungus colony); and to show the superiority of plants inoculated with Rhizobium and/or endomycorrhizal fungi compared to non- inoculated controls.

Recipient Institution(s)