Effect of climatic zone and land use practices on pod, seed and pulp yield of Parkia biglobosa in Southern Mali

Abstract

Parkia biglobosa parklands, face several constraints such as ageing, mortality and poor natural regeneration. In order to contribute to the domestication of the species, a study was conducted in southern Mali. Three climatic zones and two land use systems referred as stands were concerned. In each zone, three plots of 50 m x 50 m (0.25 ha) each, were installed in each stand. In each plot, adult P. biglobosa trees were monitored. The quantity of pods, pulp and seeds was determined each year from 2019 to 2021. The average mean yields were 23.31 kg tree-1, 5.70 kg tree-1 and 5.21 kg tree-1 for pod, seed and pulp respectively. All factors were significant regarding P. biglobosa production as well as the interaction between zone and stand. The production was higher in year 2021 (28.15 ± 31.80 kg tree-1 for pod, 7.06 ± 7.50 kg tree-1 for seed and 6.31 ± 7.28 kg tree-1 for pulp). For all products, fields in the north sudanian zone showed the highest mean yields (40.88 ± 39.87 kg tree-1 for pod, 9.03 ± 8.62 kg tree-1 for seed and 8.79 ± 9.30 kg tree-1 for pulp). The results showed that management practices have an influence on growth parameters of P. biglobosa. They appeared also to be very important in P. biglobosa fruits production. Consequently, any domestication strategy must take this fact into account.