From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <london@calypso-2.oit.unc.edu>
To: permaculture-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu
Subject: multi-use leaf crops (fwd)
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1995 01:16:08 -0400 (EDT)
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Lawrence F. London, Jr. - london@sunSITE.unc.edu http://sunSITE.unc.edu/london/Information_By_Topic.html
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 14 Aug 95 21:56:22 EDT
From: therese . M. Hildebrand <76473.64@compuserve.com>
To: sanmessage <sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu>
Subject: multi-use leaf crops
Hello,
I work with trying to help people, especially in the tropics, improve their
health by making better use of leaf crops in their diets. An area that I need
some help researching is the partial harvest of leaves from multi-purpose
crops. For example, winter wheat being grazed until snowfall then
recovering
in the spring to produce a seed crop. I am having a very hard time finding
information about this agricultural technique, which seems to have a lot of
potential for increasing total nutrient production for peasant farmers and
gardeners. These folks often suffer from malnutrition and often have to
produce
food for their families on very small parcels of land. This seems like a
technique that doesn't require any capital investment to increase food
production, just some practical information.
Edible wild greens and garden and field weeds can contribute significantly to
the food supply when combined with improved leaf drying techniques. I feel
that
the use of partial leaf harvests from cultivated crops would greatly
strengthen this strategy. But it is quite difficult finding information about
it.
I would very much appreciate any help in the search for information along
these
lines (including anything on the grazing of winter wheat). So far I've seen
one
article on partial leaf harvest of Cassava in Zaire, which I can no longer
locate, and the following mention of partial leaf harvest of cowpeas:
"According to Oomen and Grubben, some African farmers believe that a
moderate harvest of cowpea leaves and stem tips (about 2T/ha) at flowering
increases seed yield, while removing over 4 t/ha reduces seed yield. " I did
some encouraging rough studies with okra and sweet potatoes but without strict
enough control or enough replications to rely on.
Among the crops grown commercially that have edible leaves as a potential
secondary value are:
Abelmoschus esculentus Okra
Allium cepa Onion
Allium sativum Garlic
Amaranthus cruentus Mexican grain amaranth
Artocarpus heterophyllus Jackfruit