Abstract

Non-wood forest products have been shown to be sustaining the rural poor in Nigeria and other developing countries. They are in most cases threatened to extinction because most species are not domesticated and thus harvested from forests. Macro-propagation of Gongronema latifolia Benth highly valued for its nutritional and medicinal qualities but has not been substantially domesticated was studied using three physiological ages (hardwood, semi-hardwood and soft wood) in Nsukka. Statistical analyses were performed on the attributes of the cuttings and nodal cuts. The study showed that large number of clones could be produced from a single stem cutting of G. latifolia with any of the three physiological ages. Hardwood and semi-hardwood nodal cuts produced five and four shoots/clones respectively and thus have higher potential of producing clones. Macro-propagation technique could thus be utilized to rapidly disseminate selected land races and new varieties of G. latifolia resulting from hybridization.

Key words: Gongronema latifolia, macro-propagation, nodal cuts and physiological age.