Bwa-yo - Société Audubon Haiti

42 Fwenn
Figure 5.4 Men sawing S. glauca in the Maniche area, where the species supplies a
local lumber industry.
For the most part, trees found in the Haitian landscape are regenerated naturally.
However, farmers occasionally transplant volunteer seedlings or sow seeds in new locations.
Nursery beds for stumps or bare-root seedlings are a recent development of agroforestry
and forestry projects in Haiti (Fig. 5.6) and are better suited for local production
of seedlings where natural regeneration is scarce. Stumps or balled seedlings are
transplanted during the rainy season when root collar diameters reach 0.7-1.0 em.
Vegetative techniques include air-layering, cuttings and grafting (Satpathi 1984;
Armour, 1959).
Special considerations are needed to propagate the species efficiently in containers.
It is preferred to sow fresh seed, within a month following harvest, and prepare the seed
by cracking the endocarp to overcome dormancy barriers. Emergents have a tendency
to loop or lie on their sides. Sowing the seed on its side partially overcomes this problem;
extra seed is sown in germination beds for replacing deformed seedlings. Young
seedlings under shade are susceptible to root- and stem-rot diseases that should be controlled
by proper watering and fungicide treatments. Sunsca1d is a problem when
seedlings are placed in the sun directly from the shade. This problem is avoided if the
seedlings are conditioned properly. Approximately 12 weeks are required to raise
seedlings in the rigid cell containers, with the initial 4 weeks in the shade and the final
month being hardened off (Josiah, 1989).
Seed Research: Seed of this species exhibits dormancy as a result ofthe hard seed coat.
Seed that are viable by the tetrazolium test fail to germinate. Furthermore, the high oil
content of the seed causes the seed to lose viability after a couple of months when it is
stored at ambient conditions. Drying to seed moisture contents below 10% and storing
in air-tight containers improves seed longevity.