YieM data and agroforestry research
The quantification of productivity of woody perennials has to be both a
self-contained objective of research on the one hand and knowledge about
its potential, the basis and starting point for specific use-oriented further
research in the context of agroforestry systems, on the other. The whole
set of research activities on exploration and assessment of multipurpose
trees has to include the determination of multiple outputs and the latter's
comparative actual productivity. If available, reasonable, correct figures on
these outputs can save valuable time in providing direction to species selection
for research on the complex problem of yield response to management
and tree manipulation as is required if woody perennials are expected to
combine well or made to combine well with crops in an agroforestry systems.
Should, for example, the diagnosis of existing land-use systems reveal the
need of closing the fodder gap in the dry season and, as a result, call for
technologies able to solve this problem, fodder trees or shrubs are likely to
emerge as a possible solution.