FIRST EXPERIENCES IN THE SPREAD OF BOTON ORO (Tithonia diversifolia, Hemsl. Gray) FROM PLANTING SEEDS FOR INTENSIVE SYSTEMS SYLVOPASTORAL IN COLOMBIA

Abstract

Lack of knowledge on techniques for the sexual propagation of Tithonia diversifolia, together with the low supply of asexual material (cuttings) to start planting this species, have been the main bottlenecks for the expansion of intensive silvopastoral systems with Tithonia shrubs for direct browsing. Although some farmers and researchers had made chance observations of Tithonia reproduction from seed, no successful cases had been documented until recently of the sexual propagation of this species for planting in mixed fodder banks and intensive silvopastoral systems. Some observations made in 2011 on the germination of Tithonia seeds from flowering branches used as ground cover in a germination bed, generated a protocol for the efficient and low cost propagation of this species. This article summarizes the first systematic experience on the sexual propagation of Tithonia diversifolia for the rehabilitation of cattle ranches, and describes a technique that can be applied to obtain 17,000 seedlings per kilogram of seed.