Agroforestry Services: Living fence  Industrial Crop: Fiber  Regional Crop  Staple Crop: Basic Starch

A plant of the drier tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 17 - 30c, but can tolerate 10 - 38c[ 418 ]. It is able to withstand occasional temperatures down to at least -4?c, so long as the weather and soil are fairly dry[ 423 ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 400 - 2,700mm[ 418 ]. Requires a sunny position in a well-drained soil. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.5, tolerating 6 - 8[ 418 ]. The leaves contain about 4% fibre and yields of clean fibre vary between 1.1 - 3 tonnes per hectare[ 418 ]. A monocarpic species - the plant lives for a number of years without flowering but dies once it does flower. However, it normally produces plenty of suckers during its life and these continue growing, taking about 10 - 15 years in a warm climate, considerably longer in colder ones, before flowering[ 11 ]. The plant has a lifespan of more than 15 - 30 years[ 418 ].

Carbon Farming

• Agroforestry Services: Living fence  Simply managed rows of shrubs and trees.
• Industrial Crop: Fiber  Clothing, rugs, sheets, blankets etc. Currently, almost none of our fiber are produced from perennial crops but could be!
• Regional Crop  These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.
• Staple Crop: Basic Starch  The Carbon Farming Solution. Eric Toensmeier.