Agroforestry Services: Living fence  Industrial Crop: Fiber  Management: Standard  Regional Crop

A plant of the tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 23 - 30?c, but can tolerate 16 - 34?c[418 ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 2,100mm, but tolerates 700 - 2,500mm[418 ]. Requires a well-drained, medium to light soil and a sunny position[200 , 418 ]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 5.5 - 8[418 ]. Very drought tolerant, the plant is able to withstand a dry season of 8 months[418 ]. The plant has escaped from cultivation in some areas - in New Caledonia it has become a noxious weed[317 ]. The plants inflorescences produce bulblets in large quantities; these disperse naturally and form dense impenetrable stands which exclude native vegetation[413 ]. The plant takes 3 - 4 years before its first harvest, and thereafter it can be harvested every 2 - 3 years[418 ]. It has a total life span of 7 - 10 years[418 ]. Yields of between 60 - 90 tonnes/ha of green leaf can be obtained every other year, which compares to 2 - 3 tonnes of dry fibre[418 ]. Plants are monocarpic - they live for a number of years without flowering, then put all their energy into flowering and die afterwards[200 ].

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!
• Management: Standard  Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
• 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.