Incluye 26 referencias bibliográficas en las páginas 105-106

Extensive land-use practices such as cocoa cultivation and recurrent forest fires have left large tracts of land in Ghana deforested and degraded. The need to rehabilitate degraded and abandoned cocoa farms has become increasingly urgent due to the decline in productivity of existing cocoa farms and the increasing pressure on the remaining forest reserves. The rehabilitation of degraded and abandoned cocoa lands using native tree species is regarded as the most suitable strategy. Hence, this project reports studies carried out to assess the potential of Albizia zygia D.C. Macbride for amelioration of degrade cocoa soils. Albizia zygia is confirmed as nodulating and capable of symbiotic nitrogen fixation both in the wild and under greenhouse conditions when inoculated with cowpea Bradyrhizobium. The species also showed tolerance to acidic soil and water stress, which are major constraints to plant grown on degraded cocoa lands. All this makes the species a suitable candidate for cocoa rehabilitation and the provision of shade for cocoa in Ghana in particular and the West African subregion in general. Efficient seed pretreatment techniques and vegetative propagation methods of juvenile cuttings, which are useful for enhanced management of the species, are also presented.