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Lost Crops of the Incas Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation (1989) / Chapter Skim
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Basul
Pages 164-171

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From page 165...
... Such systems can be highly productive and resistant to perturbation, and they represent a major thrust in the programs emphasizing sustainable agriculture. Indeed, agroforestry is seen as one solution to the fact that the developing world will soon contain 500 million more persons than its current land resources can support.
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From page 166...
... Agronomic research aimed at regularizing the production of basul would greatly enhance its commercial use and might elevate it to one of the most prevalent and useful trees among the region's rural populations. Because of its "off-season" seed production, basul is potentially vital for health and survival in times of food scarcity.
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From page 167...
... Its extremely large seeds have a pleasant, slightly sweet flavor and are usually eaten like lima beans. They are also used in candies.
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From page 168...
... The leaves and immature pods of this legume are used to feed cattle, pigs, sheep, guinea pigs, and chickens. In one agroforestry system, basul trees shade the animals while cover crops between the trees provide additional fodder.
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From page 169...
... Basul is susceptible to extended droughts. (Grafting it onto Erythrina falcata rootstock greatly increases its drought tolerance.3)
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From page 170...
... Exploratory trials using basul are called for. Basul trees fix nitrogen, and with their protein-rich foliage, pods, and seeds as well as their general robustness, they might enormously benefit developing country reforestation and soil-improvement programs in the future.
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From page 171...
... Basul's requirements are unknown, but other members of the genus set seed to the limits of the subtropics. Rainfall.
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Key Terms

  • basul trees
  • eaten raw
  • amino acids
  • home consumption
  • fast growing

  • legume species
  • falcata rootstock
  • mature seeds
  • property boundaries
  • sweet flavor

  • promising resource
  • unused patches
  • rural poor
  • percent protein
  • herbaceous pasture

  • feed cattle
  • wood products
  • grow vigorously
  • soon contain
  • seasonal food

  • rootstock greatly
  • include planting
  • bears stout
  • living fence
  • latin america

  • developing world
  • planting density
  • limiting amino
  • lima beans
  • agricultural inputs


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