Chirwa, P.W. (2003) Tree and Crop Productivity in Gliricidia/Maize/Pigeonpea Cropping Systems in Southern Malawi, Ph.D thesis, University of Nottingham:
Nottingham.

In Adarsha Watershed, Kothapally in Andhra Pradesh, India, the package of interventions included introducing broad-bed and furrow cultivation, planting Gliricidia on the bunds for green manure, introducing new crops, high-yielding and stress tolerant improved cultivars and cropping systems, innovating with pest management techniques and developing micro-enterprises for additional income generation along with low-cost rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging structures throughout the toposequence.
In Tad Fa and Wang Chai watersheds in Thailand, and Thanh Ha and Huong Dao watersheds in Vietnam, the package of practices included introduction of improved crop varieties, construction and rehabilitation of farm ponds, introduction of legumes in the cropping systems, vegetative contour bounds, slaggered trenching, planting Gliricidia on bunds, growing fruit trees on steep slopes, contour cultivation on mild slopes, vegetative bunds with vetiver plantation, introduction of innovative integrated pest management (IPM) techniques such as using molasses to trap moths and diversifying cultivation with horticultural crops.
In Kothapally and hundreds of watershed in Andhra Pradesh, Karnatka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, the members of the SHG feed parthenium weed to earthworms, generate valuable vermicompost, and earn about Rs 500 per person per month from its sale. The SHG also produced and sold biopesticide made from neem and Gliricidia plant leaves using earthworms. Catering to the needs of generating biodiesel plantations, the SHG members started a nursery to raise seedlings of Jatropha and Pongamia.
Improved land and water management practices along with integrated nutrient management (INM) comprising of applications of inorganic fertilizers and organic amendments such as crop residues, vermicompost, farm manures, Gliricidia loppings as well as crop diversification with legumes not only enhanced productivity but also improved soil quality.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT. THE WORLD BANK. Source : http://www.unwater.org/downloads/SourcebookMarch08.pdf

The Gliricidia and Leucaena cropping fallows were recommended since the fallows maintained maize yields at 3.5 tha-1, over six planting seasons without fertilizer (Mafongoya et al., 2001). Yields markedly increased by Gliricidia manuring to an average of 1800-2500 kg ha-1 (Bohringer and Akinifesi, 2001). In Zimbabwe, farmers apply plant litter from woodlands on very sandy soils (Nyati and Cambell, 1994) while in Malawi, over 1000 farmers used improved fallows, relay cropping and mixed cropping with efficacy of intercropping and closely spaced Leucaena hedgerows on soil conservation and maize yield on sloping terrain of Malawi.
Source : Adoptability of Planted Fallows and Efficacy of Natural Types in Fertility Regeneration of a Typic Paleudult, Edna Chioma Matthews-Njoku, Emmanuel Uzoma Onweremadu, Nature and Science, 5(3), 2007, http://www.sciencepub.net/nature/0503/04-0276-mathews-onweremadu-adoptability-ns-0503.pdf

ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa). 1991. Gliricidia, the rat killer. ILCA Weekly News 106:2–3. ILCA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

MPT toxic-component of plant Concentration References
Gliricidia Tannins Foliage 2.05% Ahn et al (1989)
Source : Rumen Ecology Research Planning - International Livestock ..., 
www.ilri.org/InfoServ/Webpub/fulldocs/Rumen/ecology.pdf

The potential to improve the soil fertility capital, especially N, using the gliricidia/ maize system has been demonstrated in this study. The trial confirmed that once established, the gliricidia trees can be continuously pruned, and the pruning biomass applied as green manure annually for more than a decade, without any significant decline in biomass production, except following a season of prolonged drought.
The results from the 10-year trial of gliricidia/maize intercropping shows that high levels of maize yield can be achieved, with little or no application of commercial N fertilizer. There was evidence that intercropping maize with gliricidia involving the application of tree prunings to the maize restored the topsoil nutrient capital compared to the traditional practice without soil amendment. Supplemental applications of small quantities of fertilizer can increase the maize yield over gliricidia prunings alone, but maize response to additional N fertilizer will be low after the soil N capital has been built-up by N-rich prunings gliricidia. Therefore, the supplemental N will be more important in the early years of tree establishment, and subsequent applications should be kept at a minimum (e.g. 25–30% of recommended N rate will be worthwhile). There is also some evidence that P may be important for optimum maize production after long years of annual cropping.
It is worthwhile to undertake on-farm research to understand better the performance of gliricidia/maize system under farmer-managed conditions. Researchers should focus on identifying opportunities and designing a range of options to meet increasing labour demands through efficient timing of pruning, enhanced highyielding potent al of crops in low rainfall areas, and improved soil management practices that combine organic and inorganic nutrient sources and enhanced highquality residues.
Source : SUSTAINABLE MAIZE PRODUCTION USING GLIRICIDIA/MAIZE INTERCROPPING, F. K. AKINNIFESI†, W. MAKUMBA & F. R. KWESIGA, Expl. Agric. (2006), volume 42, pp. 1–17, http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/JA06107.pdf


Gliricidia sepium is a single or multi-stemmed tree with a medium crown and a deep root system. It is a fast-growing, small tree and can grow to a maximum height of about 15m. Gliricidia’s natural habitat is in early and middle successional vegetation types, on disturbed sites such as coastal sand dunes, riverbanks, floodplains and fallow land.
The characteristics of Gliricidia sepium which make it suitable as a productive, sustainable agroforestry system in Indonesia include:
? It grows well on disturbed sites under a wide variety of conditions. It is suited to the climate and acidic soils typical of S.E. Asia and, more specifically, the Jambi province (Grist et al., 1999b).
? It has been cultivated in Indonesia since the early 1900s therefore the know-how and infrastructure are present and in practice.
? It has many commercial and subsistence outputs such as firewood, cabinet timber and panelling, fencing, mulch, fodder, shade and shelter, honey, and medicine.
? It provides environmental services such as shading and suppressing Imperata grasses (due to its ability to grow fast), and cycling nitrogen through the system (by producing mulch with a high nutrient value).
The system simulated in this study is a 25-year rotation of a Gliricidia sepium plantation, adapted from the Gliricidia systems simulated by Grist et al. (1999b) and Nelson et al. (1998). Preparing the land for Gliricidia involves removing existing vegetation (usually by burning) and then ploughing the site. Cuttings are then collected and planted. A planting density of 10000 trees per hectare was used. Gliricidia cuttings are quick to establish, and once established require little maintenance, including no weeding. Fertiliser is applied at a rate of 60 kg/ha/yr for the first four years. To maximize nutrient recycling, pruning is done frequently. In WaNuLCAS, pruning events are based on canopy density, where pruning only occurs when the total tree leaf area index (LAI) exceeds a user-defined critical value. The critical value for LAI, for a frequently pruned tree species such as Gliricidia, suggested by van Noordwijk and Lusiana (2000, pp. 98) is 0.15. When harvesting this pruned material the wood, twigs and leaves are removed from the system.
Source : A Bioeconomic Analysis of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agroforests, Russell Wise and Oscar Cacho, http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/125612/2/Wise.pdf