Multipurpose leguminous trees and shrubs for agroforestry

There are various ways in which farmers deliberately incorporate trees and shrubs on farm production fields. Many of the species so incorporated are legumes. The role of such woody perennials in agroforestry systems can be productive and/or protective. Legumes offer by far the maximum range of choice of woody species for agroforestry in terms of their economic uses as well as ecological adaptibility. In addition to the several leguminous woody species that are well known in agroforestry, there are many more whose potentials have not yet been fully understood. An evaluation is presented of the agroforestry potentials of a few leguminous species from the point of view of their growth characteristics, ecological adaptability, combining ability with other species and uses/functions. The science of agroforestry is still in its infancy. There exists no research data on the various management aspects of these potentially promising group of plants. ICRAF, in its capacity as an international research council, has assembled several multipurpose leguminous trees and shrubs of agroforestry potential at the Council's recently-established Field Station in Machakos, Kenya, primarily for demonstration and training purposes. Initial results from these trials are presented in the paper.