Cultivation Practices and Utilisation of Moringa oleifera Provenances by Small Holder Farmers: Case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study sought to establish the cultivation practices and utilisation of Moringa oleifera provenances grown by small holder farmers in Zimbabwe. Focus group interviews, questionnaires and field observations were used to collect data. The snowball technique was used to identify farmers to be interviewed in the targeted study site. Eight focus group discussions, in four districts, disaggregated by sex were conducted, one per district. Questionnaires were administered to farmers who were growing Moringa oleifera trees. Data from questionnaires was analysed using Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS) version 9.13 in order to come up with descriptive statistics of the responses to the questionnaires. The study established that, the common innovative cultivation system for Moringa is mixed cropping, where Moringa is planted together with fruit trees in the orchards or grown together with garden crops around homesteads. The leaf biomass was used as mulch and as organic fertiliser. A significant number of farmers, 63%, use Moringa for

Effect of Planting Density and Harvest Interval on the Leaf Yield and Quality of Moringa (Moringa oleifera) under Diverse Agroecological Conditions of Northern South Africa

“…However, with time, the gravimetric soil moisture content was reduced as a result of plant competition for light, space, and dwindling moisture concentration among the plant densities. This finding concurs with those of Amaglo et al [13] and Gadzirayi et al [14] who showed that relatively close plant spacing resulted in taller plants because of competition for growth factors, especially light and space. These observations indicate that proper field management of soil moisture and fertilizer is necessary in order to supply plants with adequate levels of nutrients and moisture to overcome competition among the plants.…”

“…The great potential benefits mean that there is a need to critically assess harvesting practices that optimise biomass production of moringa under different agroecological conditions. Planting density and frequency of cutting have been identified as critical management practices that affect biomass yield and leaf quality [12][13][14]. The main objective of the study reported here was to establish, for the first time, the effect of planting spacing and cutting interval on aboveground biomass production and nutritional quality of Moringa oleifera under different climatic conditions in two study sites in northern South Africa.…”

Growth and fruiting of selected provenances of Moringa oleifera Lam. in South Eastern region of Kenya

“…In this study, we observed diameter ranges of 3.95cm -6.79cm. Similar DBH performances were observed in two provenances of M. oleifera grown in Zimbabwe [17]. Further, the DBH ranges obtained in this study are closely comparable with those obtained by [18] which ranged between 2.86cm-8.58cm.…”

“…Due to lack of such information, scientists have raised concerns over likelihood of using propagation materials of narrow genetic base with restricted genetic diversity [15]. To address the challenge, provenance trials have been carried out in different countries [16,17,18] with the aim of selecting best performing provenances for cultivation. As a precursor to establishment of large-scale M. oleifera plantations in the South Eastern region of Kenya, seeds were collected from different parts of eastern and coastal regions of Kenya.…”

UMKM MoriGe: Komersialisasi Daun Kelor sebagai Produk Pangan Lokal

“…Jarak tanam kelor bervariasi menurut tujuan budi dayanya. Petani di Zimbabwe menanam kelor dengan jarak tanam bervariasi mulai 30-500 cm (Gadzirayi et al, 2013). Penanaman kelor di PT Moringa Organik Indonesia menggunakan jarak tanam 100 cm × 100 cm untuk produksi daun kelor kering (Akbar, 2018).…”