Quickstick

Gliricidia sepium, the quickstick tree, grown in Pakistan under its own name gliricidia, is a fast nitrogen-fixing legume planted as the workhorse support tree of an agroforestry system. The honest reason a grower plants it is its sheer usefulness per square metre: it strikes from a cutting like a fence post, fixes nitrogen, coppices endlessly for fodder, mulch and fuel, and asks little in return. For anyone building soil and feeding ruminants on the warm plains, it is one of the most productive support trees available.

Where it thrives

Gliricidia suits the Punjab plains and the Sindh coast, growing fast on a wide range of soils in full sun. POWO records it as a tree native from Mexico to Colombia, now grown across the tropics.¹ It establishes very quickly, with nursery seedlings reaching plantable size in about three months, and once rooted it tolerates heat and dry spells well.² It is frost-tender and dislikes waterlogging, so keep it to the frost-free lowlands; otherwise it is hard to discourage.

Role in the system

Gliricidia is the definitive support-strata tree: a fast nitrogen fixer with a light, open canopy that feeds the system without shading out the crops beneath it.² Its core jobs are coppice and pollard for repeated biomass, chop-and-drop mulch and green manure, high-protein fodder for ruminants, and a living fence. Pruned at 0.3 to 1.5 metres it pushes out leaf for cutting; pollarded at 2 metres and above it builds wood for fuel.² In an alley-cropping or guild design it is the nitrogen-and-mulch engine planted in rows or as a support layer between productive trees, cut hard on a regular cycle so its prunings feed the soil and the stock. Treat it as the tree that quietly powers everything else.

Growing it

Two decisions decide success. First, propagation method: large stem cuttings strike fast and make an instant live fence or row, while seedlings root deeper and last longer, so use cuttings for a quick hedge and seed where you want durable, deep-rooted trees. Second, the cutting cycle: it is built to be coppiced and pollarded repeatedly, so set a regular pruning rhythm from the start to keep a steady flow of fodder and mulch rather than letting it run up tall. Spacing follows the objective, tight for fodder rows and live fence, wider for shade and wood; water through establishment, then it is largely self-reliant.

What you get

The returns are heavy and reliable: nitrogen-rich prunings for mulch and green manure, firewood, a living fence, and protein-rich fodder that lifts intake, digestibility and nitrogen retention in goats and other ruminants.²³ Be blunt about the central caveat: the foliage and seeds are toxic to non-ruminants, and pigs, poultry and rabbits fed gliricidia show clear signs of poisoning, so it must be fed only to cattle, goats and sheep, never to monogastric stock.² The economic angle is excellent: cheap, fast fertility, fencing, fuel and ruminant feed from one easily propagated tree.

Sourcing notes

Take cuttings or seed from healthy, vigorous local trees that coppice well, choosing cutting material for a fast fence and seed for deep-rooted permanence. Companion it as the nitrogen-and-mulch support around fruit trees, in alleys with grain and vegetables, and as fodder banks beside ruminant pasture, while keeping every part of it well away from poultry, pigs and rabbits.

Sources

1. POWO (2024). “Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth.” Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
2. World Agroforestry (ICRAF) (2009). “Gliricidia sepium.” Agroforestree Database 4.0.
3. Rusdy, M., et al. (2020). “Utilization of Leucaena leucocephala and Gliricidia sepium as supplements by goats fed Panicum maximum basal diet.” Tropical Animal Health and Production.