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The Pruning and Harvesting Trees chapter of the Facilitators Manual provides the detailed instructions (and support materials) you need to implement the mobilization meeting. Download the chapter here.
Summary
Goal Farmers will learn and practice pruning and harvesting methods that follow best practices to sustainably manage trees and harvest fruit, fodder, fuelwood, fertilizer and timber. Learning Objective1. Understand the benefits of pruning.
2. Learn pruning best practices for different types of trees to enhance tree health and increase yields.
3. Learn best practices for harvesting seeds and fruit.
4. Learn best practices for storage of seeds, fodder, and fruit.
Venue and Timing This module should be given at the end of the dry season. The training should be held at a Forest Garden that has a variety of pruning needs and some mature, fruiting fruit trees. Relevant Technical Manual Chapters Before this training event, the facilitator should read, review, and thoroughly understand the following chapters and sections in the Technical Manual:· Chapter 3: Seeds
· Chapter 10: Pruning, Harvesting, and Tree Management
· Chapter 11: Cut and Carry Livestock Management
Preparation· Walk through the host farmer’s field to identify and mark trees to prune.
· Ask participants to bring sharpened machetes.
Supplies· Pruning tools: freshly sharpened machetes (one per 5 participants)
Total Time 3-4 hours Handouts in Farmer’s Workbook· Pruning Best Practices
· Pruning Foliage
· Pruning for Fertilizer
· Seed Collection and Observation Chart
Agenda
Opener: Field visit (30 mins)· Walk around the field and discuss characteristics of the most productive fruit trees
Activity 1: Why prune and train? (30 mins)· Discuss benefits of pruning
Activity 2: Pruning and harvesting agroforestry trees (1 hour)· Review tools needed for pruning
· Review best practices for pruning and harvesting fuel, fodder and fertilizer from agroforestry trees
· Farmers practice pruning agroforestry trees
Activity 3: Pruning fruit trees (1 hour)· Facilitator demonstrates how to prune fruit trees
· Farmers practice pruning fruit trees
Activity 4: How to harvest and store fruit (30 mins)· Discuss characteristics of quality fruit for the market
· Review best practices for harvesting and storing fruit
Activity 5: Collecting and Storing Tree Seeds (30 mins)· Why collect and save seeds?
· Which seeds to collect?
· Discuss collecting and storing tree seeds
Take Home Activity 6: Prune your Forest Garden (15 mins)· Prune agroforestry and fruit trees in your Forest Garden
· Follow-up
What you need to know
Whether you intend to sit the FG Pro certification exam, or lead Seedling Propagation module extension activities, you must be able to answer the following questions to succeed.Seeds: quality, collection, extraction & storage
- Why is seed quality important?
- How can you tell if a seed is likely to be good?
- What are characteristics of parent trees that are good for seed?
- How can you increase genetic diversity in your stored seeds? Should you harvest seed from fruits that come from the same tree? Should they be from trees that are near each other? Why or why not?
- What are desired parent characteristics for seeds of different products?
- Why do you use local varieties of fruit for seed?
Pruning, Harvesting, and Tree Management
- What tools do you need for pruning? When do you use the different tools? Why is it important to keep your tools sharp?
- How do you cut the stems to be sure you’re not damaging the trees?
- How can you prevent a large branch from tearing the bark below, and damaging the tree, as it falls away? Why is it important for the cuts to be slightly angled? After pruning large branches, how can you protect the wound from disease?
- What steps should you take when pruning diseased branches?
- If the tree has lots of branches, will it produce more fruit? Why do you prune fruit trees?
- What type of pruning does a fruit seedling need in the nursery? Why?
- When pruning a young fruit tree, which branches should be cut? Why? How do you shape a young fruit tree?
- Why is it important to prune a grafted fruit tree? What needs to be pruned?
- What are the goals when pruning an adult fruit tree?
- When should each stage of pruning for fruit trees be done (seedlings, young trees, mature trees)?
- What’s the purpose of pruning green wall seedlings?
- Why is it important to prune the terminal buds for the first time while they are in the nursery?
- How should you prune your green wall trees at each stage – seedling, after planting, mature trees?
- How do you ensure the green wall forms a solid barrier?
- What is the best time of the year to prune your green wall trees?
- If growing together in a section, how far apart should timber trees be planted? Why?
- How old should timber trees first be when you thin them? Which trees should you thin?
- At what age should you prune or lop timber trees? What time of the year should you do this?
- How far apart should fully grown timber trees be from each other? What are two reasons to plant timber trees? Why is it good to plant timber trees in your Forest Garden?