Cratylia argentea (Desv.) O. Kuntze is a drought-tolerant tropical shrub legume that can help to ensure continuity of forage supply in smallholder systems either through direct grazing or as a cut-and-carry plant for fresh foliage or silage. A collection of 38 accessions was characterized agronomically and nutritionally. High diversity was detected between accessions. Time to flowering ranged from 217–329 days after transplanting seedlings to the field and from 129–202 days after cutting. Flowering is probably induced by reduction of day length. Seed production was high but variable. Dry matter production ranged from 190–382 g/plant in the rainy and from 124–262 g/plant in the dry season, content of in vitro digestible dry matter from 589–690 g/kg, crude protein content from 184–237 g/kg and fibre content from 403–528 g/kg (neutral detergent fibre, NDF), 240–335 g/kg (acid detergent fibre, ADF), and 9–13 g/kg (acid detergent fibre-bound nitrogen, N-ADF). Accessions CIAT 18674 and CIAT 22406 were identified as promising for further study. They were superior to the commercial cultivar in terms of dry matter (DM) production, particularly in the dry season. Further research is required to determine the prevailing reproduction strategy of C. argentea and to quantify outcrossing-rates. Multilocational trials with a selected set of accessions should be conducted under different environmental conditions.

No abstract

The biomass production and the nutritive value of three tropical shrub legumes with condensed tannins (CT) (Calliandra calothyrsus, Flemingia macrophylla, Leucaena leucocephala) and two without CT (Cratylia argentea, Desmodium velutinum) as nitrogen-rich feed supplements for ruminants were assessed in two field experiments in Colombia. In one experiment, conducted on two different typical tropical soils (mollisol vs. oxisol; pH, 7AE8 vs. 5AE0; P content, 43 vs. 2 mg kg DM )1 ), the effects of low and high levels of fertilizer application with P, K, Ca, Mg and S were tested in both the dry and rainy seasons. In a second experiment on the oxisol, the effect of a lower level of application of either P or S fertilizer was assessed. On the oxisol, C. calothyrsus and F. macrophylla had the highest biomass production (93 and 100 g DM plant )1 in 9 weeks respectively) but the dry season caused extremely low DM yields in all species tested. Leucaena leucocephala did not grow on the oxisol but had the highest biomass production on the mollisol (454 g DM plant )1 in 9 weeks). On the oxisol, the mineral concentrations of the forage were below the requirements of ruminant livestock. Fertilizer treatment had no clear effects on the nutrient composition of the forage. The non-CT shrub C. argentea had the highest concentrations of most minerals in its forage.

Nuestra época, como todas las épocas, pero quizá más que muchas otras, está signada por el concepto de crisis, crisis de las instituciones, de los metarrelatos de occidente, de los valores, de la moral.Frente a una cotidianidad caracterizada por hechos violentos y corruptos representados hasta en la más mínima acción del diario vivir en los hogares así como en los conflictos que involucran toda una nación o las relaciones entre naciones, la comunidad pide una resignificación de los valores y la moral que responda a la angustia del diario vivir proponiendo alternativas de convivencia pacífica, ética ciudadana, solución de conflictos, organismos anticorrupción entre otros.

El concepto de corrupción está más cerca de los fines y medios colectivos de un país, en tanto la violación de los derechos y deberes de los ciudadanos en todos los regímenes, ya sea democrático, socialista o cualquier otro sistema político; la corrupción más que la alteración de las leyes jurídicas por medio de una acción individual o colectiva, conforma uno de los atentados contra la humanidad como tal y contra el fin último de todo ser inmerso en una sociedad, en otras palabras, la corrupción no sólo es un problema jurídico sino, quizá con mayor importancia, es un problema ético.