Moringa oleifera - Moringa

Description and Uses

Moringa oleifera (Moringa) is a tropical tree from North West India . It is mainly grown for its multipurpose crops , which have a medium shelf life. The crop is harvested by pruning. It starts flowering after 0 - 2 years. The yield will be 0.5, but in its top season there will be a yield of 0.6. Other crop types include; fuel, nut, fodder, fruit, bio-mass, conservation, edible leave shoot. The flower powdered leaf shoot is used as super food . The powdered leaf is used as " anti-cancer, high vitamin-C content, " with proteins (25 - 28) as its significant phytochemical. There is ben-oil extracted by cold pressing from the tree's seed/nut yielding 35 - 40 oil. The tree's wood is called moringa wood and has a density of 500 - 700 kg/m³. Regarding firewood production the tree's growing speed is very fast, it's energetic value is 4850 ckal/kg and the wood's drying speed is slow. After 8 years the tree can be totally removed as it reached its commercial and ecological goal. Moringa oleifera has a lifespan of 20 years.

Environmental limitations

The tree is 12 meters tall with a crown of 7 meters wide. The tree prefers a planting distance of 300 cm and a row distance of 300 cm. It is very fast growing and intolerant to shade. Moringa oleifera has a deep root-system and it has symbiotic associations with the Glomus intraradices and Glomus mosseae fungi (endo-mycorrhiza high). It is not able to fix nitrogen with "any bacteria. The name(s) or string of bacteria include(s) "not applicable ". The tree's flower-morphology is bi-sexual and is pollinated by bees. Moringa oleifera is deciduous in winter and not allelopathic and has no thorns.

Moringa oleifera thrives in an altitude of 0 to 1000 meters above sea-level (tropical). The minimum temperature is -1°C; optimally between 13 - 40°C. The optimal rainfall is 1000 mm/year. Without irrigation the annual rainfall should be between 250 - 1500mm (L/m²). The optimal soil-pH is between 5.0 - 9.0 in a soil texture of sand. To salt it is a bit tolerant to wind tolerant and to fire a bit tolerant.

Pests and Diseases

Moringa oleifera is susceptible to the following pests: Eupterote mollifera . And it's susceptible to the following diseases: (missing data) , , .

Seed Propagation

Seeds are orthodox and can be stored for 15 months. There are approximative 3500 seeds/kg. The seeds can be propagated as followed:

• (1) Store harvested seeds dry at room temperature
• (2) Soak the seeds overnight in warm water before sowing.
• (3) press the seeds twice its size in the soil soil.