When we started cultivating our farm, the very first thing I did was plant a ton of gliricidia sepium (local name: madre de cacao or kakawate). Hardy, fast-growing, and brimming with benefits, this legume tree is hands down the most useful tree in our farm. From soil regeneration, to livestock food, to pest management, this tree can do it all!
And so I’m writing this article with the hope that this convinces you to cultivate this multifunctional tree in your farm, especially if you live in an area where this is a native tree. Here are 10 uses of gliricidia sepium in agriculture.
1. Living fence
Gliricidia sepium makes for an excellent living fence because it’s fast-growing, low-maintence, and extremely hardy – a combo you must look for in a living fence. You’ll have a dense barrier within just a few months of planting from cutting and within a year from seeds. Once established, it can handle everything from full-on tropical sun to extreme rainy seasons.
Here’s our one-year old gliricidia sepium fence that houses our vegetable garden. Planting this was the best decision I’ve ever made to keep our neighbor’s wandering goats and cows from our vegetables.
For a cost-effective barrier, wrap the perimeter of your fence with a hog wire and use gliricidia as a post for every meter. Gliricidia is so robust that it can perfectly tolerate nails embedded in its branch. We didn’t even dig holes when we planted these. We simply stabbed the soil repeatedly with the sharp end of the branch until we roughly formed holes where we then planted each branch. A few weeks later, it grew with about 95% success rate.
2. Fast compost ingredient
Fast composting is a method that quickly turns organic waste into nutrient-rich soil by carefully balancing the ratio of carbon-rich materials (brown, dried organic material) with nitrogen-rich materials ( green and fresh leaves, food scraps). Once balanced, kept moist, and turned regularly, the mixture decomposes rapidly and turns into a quick, usable compost for as quick as 18 days or less. This creates compost that’s great for gardening in less time.
In my experience, gliricidia sepium’s leaves, so far, are the best green ingredient I’ve ever used in a fast compost. Its leaves are thin, moist, and soft that they decompose and heats up very well just within a few days of fast composting.
For the record, I’ve tried mangium leaves and cogon grass and they take quite a while to decompose, sometimes remaining intact to the very last day of the composting.
P.S: the way, the fast compost recipe I follow is 1/3 cow manure, 1/3 sawdust and 1/3 greens combined in a 1 cubic meter gravity pile. As soon as I have the cow manure (nitrogen) and sawdust (carbon) ready, I simply harvest the leaves from my madre de cacao fence which, at the same time, is protecting my vegetables from cows. How’s that for multifunctional?
3. Livestock Feed
Aside from being rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, gliricidia sepium leaves possess antiparasitic and antimicrobial effects which improves the health and productivity goats, cattle, pigs, and poultry. It is very easily an excellent supplemental forage option for livestock.
Here’s our chickens eating madre de cacao leaves. We still feed them feeds and let them out of coops, but gliricidia sepium allows us to save on feeds as well as diversify their diet.
4. Timber
In our farm, we use dried kakawate branches as firewoods. Little did we know that it is more than a firewood. According to this research, gliricidia sepium can also function as a serious timber:
…the wood of Gliricidia sepium is a potential LUS (Lesser Used Species) that could find a major value in the timber market. The density of the wood is high and could be put into useful purposes where heavy wood is needed for construction. The mechanical properties were comparable and superior to other hardwood species and thus make it a potential substitute to those over-exploited species that are fast disappearing from the timber market. The results obtained in this study has provided quantitative information on the mechanical properties of Gliricidia which hitherto has not been provided to support claims that the wood is strong, heavy and useful for building and construction.
https://www.tropicalforages.info/text/entities/gliricidia_sepium.htm
Although I’ve honestly not seen it practiced yet, based on this article, it’s clear that the wood of gliricidia sepium possesses promising characteristics that could make it a valuable resource for construction and other applications in the future.
I’d love to try this out in our farm someday. For now though, we only have three trees mature enough to be considered as timber, the rest are still thin and young.
5. Pest Control
When you strategically plant gliricidia around your crops or gardens, it acts like a natural pest repellent, keeping pests critters like aphids and nematodes at bay. This is all thanks to compounds called “rotenone” found in its leaves and bark. These compounds give off strong odors and contain substances that repel or deter pests.
Here’s the cool part: even though rotenone can knock out pests, it usually doesn’t bother other insects and animals, as long as it’s used in the right amounts. This is because different organisms have different ways of dealing with rotenone. Some have built-in defenses or ways of handling it that some pests just don’t have. Beneficial insects and animals may have evolved mechanisms to detoxify or tolerate rotenone, making them less susceptible to its effects compared to pests.
6. Windbreaker and shader
Shade-loving crops like coffee, cacao, vanilla, cardamom, and pepper thrive when interplanted with G. sepium. By creating a protective canopy, it shields these plants from the harsh effects of direct sunlight and wind, helping to maintain ideal growing conditions.
In fact, “Madre de Cacao” translates to “Mother of Cocoa” in English. This name reflects its historical association with cocoa cultivation and agroforestry systems. Over time, the name became commonly used among farmers and agricultural practitioners, reflecting the deep interconnection between Madre de Cacao trees and cacao plants in sustainable farming practices.
7. Green manure
Green manure is a cover crop that is grown specifically to improve soil fertility and structure. It’s usually grown and then incorporated into the soil while still green and succulent, hence the name “green manure”, “mulch-in-place”, or “chop-and-drop”.
Gliricidia sepium is an excellent green manure for soil improvement because of its deep root system and nitrogen-fixing ability. Its roots break up compacted soil, improve its structure, and allow better water infiltration and root penetration.
So, not only does our living fence protect our crops from wandering animals, it also acts as a fertilizer on its own by simply chopping off of its fast-growing leaves and leaving them to decompose on the soil to act as mulch.
Once incorporated into the soil, they decomposes rapidly and release organic matter and nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, enhancing soil fertility for future crops. It’s simply more sustainable than store-bought fertilizers.
8. Bee forage for honey production
Gliricidia sepium is fantastic for bee forage production because its flowers are rich in nectar. So, while it improves the soil and repels insects, it also boost honey production and support healthy bee populations.
I’ve always known gliricidia since I was a child and yet I’m aware of its flowering capability only recently when I laid eyes on the blooming light pink flowers on our new farm’s old gliricidia trees. It seems to me that the flowers appear only on very mature, established trees but not on younger ones.
9. Soil erosion control
Gliricidia sepium typically has a combination of vertical and horizontal root growth. Its vertical roots penetrate deep into the soil, helping to anchor the plant firmly and stabilize the ground, while the horizontal spread of its roots creates a dense network that helps to hold soil particles in place and prevent erosion.
Additionally, its fast growth and ability to withstand harsh conditions make it an effective choice for stabilizing slopes and preventing runoff. By planting gliricidia along vulnerable areas, such as hillsides or riverbanks, you can help protect the soil from erosion and maintain its fertility for future crops.
Our farm is situated right beside a river. If not for the bamboos (which is also an excellent soil erosion control) already growing on on our riverbanks, I would also be planting gliricidia there.
10. Liquid fertilizer
Using gliricidia sepium leaves to create a liquid fertilizer involves soaking the leaves in water to extract their nutrients. This nutrient-rich liquid is then used to water plants directly, providing an efficient method of delivering nutrients to the root zone for healthy growth.
This method is popular among farmers because it takes advantage of gliricidia’s nutrient-rich leaves in a convenient and effective way. By soaking the leaves in water, the nutrients are leached out and can be easily absorbed by plants when applied to the soil. This practice not only maximizes the use of all parts of the gliricidia plant but also promotes sustainable agriculture by reducing waste and providing a natural source of nutrients for crops.