Tree Seeds for FarmersA toolkit and reference source

Roeland Kindt

World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)

VVOB-TOTDOMEA project

Objectives

Provide information on sustainable production of seeds and seedlings of good quality, considering Large number of agroforestry tree species Wide range of actors in scaling-up agroforestry Information needs of different partner organisations Quality of seeds and seedlings Sustainability of seed systems

Complexity of seed systems

Various actors: NGOs, CBOs, GOs, research, private sector

Various species: indigenous, exotic, fodder, fruit, timber, fertility, medicine, …

Different targets: different types of farmers, ecological differences

Other stakeholders: development, biodiversity

Flow of seeds, seedlings and information

Existing information on tree seed

Information was developed for systems with centralised seed collection and distribution Seed handling in laboratories Extension messages on tree planting only

Information is often not available further upstream in dissemination

Toolkit

Accommodates for various types of seed systems (centralised/decentralised) (new)

Summarises existing information on seed collection and handling

Introduces methods of privatisation (new)

Three sessions based on these objectives: Strategies (actors and roles within seed systems) Technical guidelines (quality) Private sector (sustainability)

Session I: Strategies for scaling-up seed production

Seed production and distribution strategies Research Extension Training Information sources Species selection

Chapters on joint strategies of various actors for scaling-up tree seed production in combining conditions for sustainability and quality

Suggestions for roles of certain actors, but no blueprints available

Stresses need for collaboration among actors

Session II: Technical guidelines in seed production

Sourcing seed Seed collection Seed processing Seed storage Dormancy and pre-sowing treatments Seed quality, physiological and genetic Seed distribution Seed documentation

Information on maintaining seed quality Summary of existing information, but focus on local

conditions (no laboratories) (new)

Session III: The private sector and seed production

Business approach Seed and seedling marketing Tree nurseries as an enterprise Seedling quality Nursery operators as extension agents

Information on involving the private sector (small entrepreneurs)

Methods of making seed and seedling production more sustainable while not compromising quality too much

Format of the toolkit Folder with printed information CD-ROM with toolkit information (PDF) and additional materials Website: http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treesandmarkets/tree seeds/

Style of toolkit

Question and answer List of questions that each actor could ask Summary with short answer Main text with longer answer Cross-referencing among chapters

Toolkit: self-learning and references for further reading

Technical terms are avoided Images, diagrams and boxes with case studies

Toolkit chapters

Additional materials Videoclips on seed handling DANIDA guide to handling of tropical and subtropical seed (511 pages!) (

http://www.dfsc.dk/publications.htm ; http://www.dfsc.dk/Guidechapters.htm ) LONGMAN tropical trees: propagation and planting manuals (Volumes 1-4) (

http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/AD231E/AD231E00.HTM ) Tree Seed Management (Winrock, ICRAF and IFSP) 8 IFSP demo room posters (collection, cleaning, storage, extraction, drying,

testing, …) IFSP flip-over (visual extension material) ICRAF nursery and vegetative propagation manuals, seed collection, ordering

and production guidelines, Agroforestry Seed database and scaling-up document, other databases (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sites/TreeDbs/TreeDatabases.asp )

Robbins materials (images) and resource (lecture notes) for tree seeds Árboles de Centroamérica extension manual of OFI and CATIE (302 pages, 8

chapters) (http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/adc/index.asp ) CIAT handbook on business approaches for small-scale seed producers FloraBank guideline series for seed collection and storage (10 guidelines) (

http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/adc/index.asp )

Which other useful resources do you suggest?