Review of establishment practices of Leucaena leucocephala cv. Tarramba in West Timor, Indonesia

Abstract

With increasing cattle production in East Nusa Tenggara Province there is an urgent need to increase plantings of high quality forage such as Tarramba leucaena. This requires stakeholders to acquire knowledge and practical skills to achieve reliable plant establishment. As part of a study of Tarramba leucaena adoption in East Nusa Tenggara, it became clear that the best method to establish leucaena was by transplanting 1-2-month-old seedlings at the beginning of the rainy season that had been pre-prepared in poly-bags at a nursery. However, with varied conditions at the study locations, such as the absence of a dry season water source, farmers have used other methods, including: direct seeding; poly-bag seedlings planted later in the wet season; or older bare-root seedlings harvested from a high-density nursery or from volunteer seedlings growing between rows of established leucaena. This paper elaborates on the different methods of establishment in farmer plantings in Kupang District (West Timor region of East Nusa Tenggara Province), Indonesia.