Utilisation of some Erythrina species and biomass production of Erythrina variegata

摘要

UtilisationofthreeErythrinaspecies,E.indica,E.subumbransandE.variegata,wasstudiedinthreedifferentareasofLaoPDR(centre,northandsouth).ManyfarmersusedbothE.indicaandE.variegataforfencingandasashadetreeandE.variegataleaveswerealsousedasatraditionalfoodandmedicine.ErythrinasubumbranswascommonlyusedasashadeplantandasfertiliserforArabicacoffeeplants.Erythrinafoliagewastosomeextentusedasafeedsupplementforcattle,goats,buffaloesandhorses.Inthebiomassexperiment,E.variegatawastestedwithtwodifferentfertilisers,cowmanureandmineralfertiliser,andacontroltreatment(nofertiliser).Branchcuttingswereusedasplantingmaterial.Thefoliageswereharvestedsixmonthsafterestablishment.Drymatter(DM)yieldswererecordedandnutritivevaluesofthefoliageanalysed.Fertiliserssignificantlydecreasedthemortalityofshootsandincreasedtheheightofshootsandfreshandcrudeprotein(CP)yield.TotalDMfoliageyieldswere194,363and326kg/haandCPyields29,55and48kg/haforcontrol,cowmanureandmineralfertiliser,respectively.Therewerenosignificantdifferencesinnutritivevalueofthefoliagebetweentreatments.ThemeanvaluesovertreatmentsinE.variegatawere200gCP/kgDMintheleaves,and7.6gCa,2.0gPand8.4gcondensedtannins/kgDMinleavespluspetioles.nbsp;