Biomass Production and Chemical Composition of Moringa oleifera under Different Management Regimes in Nicaragua

Moringa oleifera: an alternative forage of multiple uses for the Brazilian semiarid

“…This fast-growing plant reaches up to 15 meters in height (Ferreira et al, 2008) and has a short trunk with 25 cm thickness (Sánchez et al, 2006a). According to Pérez et al (2010), it is short-lived and can live for up to 20 years, with annual varieties found in India.…”

“…Ramachandran et al (1980) argued that moringa is very resistant to drought, being grown in arid and semiarid regions of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and East Africa, with rainfall around 300 mm per year. According to Sánchez et al (2006a), moringa tolerates an annual precipitation of 500 to 1,500 mm.…”

“…The soil pH range for moringa growth is in the range from 5 to 9, but the tree does not adapt to poorly drained and heavy clayey soils, preferring neutral or slightly acidic soils (Sánchez et al, 2006a).…”

“…The leaves of 3 to 5 cm in length are composite, alternate and arranged in groups of leaflets with three to five pairs arranged on a main petiole (Sánchez et al, 2006a;Pérez et al, 2010).…”

“…Forage production Sánchez et al (2006a) carried out an experiment analyzing the effects of different planting densities (250,000, 500,000 and 750,000 plants/ha) and cutting frequencies (45, 60 and 75 days) in the biomass production of Moringa oleifera obtained from Nicaragua, and found a higher yield at 75 days for all densities analyzed. The density of 750,000 plants/ha produced the highest yield of fresh matter and dry matter, of 88.0 and 18.9 t ha/year, respectively.…”