From ECHO's seedbank

The following plants are new to our seedbank. Trial packets are free to those ALREADY IN ECHO'S NETWORK working with small farmers overseas; others please send $2.50/packet. Tropical vegetable soybean variety trial, Glycine max: from the Asian Vegetable Research and Dev't Center, Taiwan (a May 1996 summary of their work stated that AVRDC's improved vegetable soybean varieties are planted in 93% of the total vegetable growing area in tropical Asia). Short-duration pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan: see EDN 29-4, 52-5; two new accessions from ICRISAT. Rio Grande ´Bloody Mary' red corn, Zea mays: from New Mexico, USA, grows to 2m, 1-2 ears, makes a fine flour, feed. ´Cariflora' papaya, Carica papaya: resistant to papaya ring spot virus; not a solo variety. Atemoya, Annona squamosa X A. cherimola: delicious, fast-growing fruit tree for tropical lowlands; not tolerant of waterlogging. Cherimoya, Annona cherimola: creamy Andean fruit grown as a delicacy; requiring close management (including hand pollination, careful harvesting); difficult to ship; 1500m elevation at equator (cool but not cold temperatures); 1200mm rain during growing season. Malabar spinach, Basella rubra: we have seed again of our large-leafed, vigorous variety; (mucilaginous) leaf crop suited for humid regions; easy to cultivate; requires trellis. Fodder turnips and forage kale: for cool highland regions, fast-growing short-season from Sharpes International Seeds, England. Acacia mangium: fast- growing N-fixing tree tolerates low-fertility, very acidic soils in humid tropics; used for eradication of Imperata grass; not flood tolerant. A. auriculiformis: widely adaptable to harsh sites (pH 3-9), Imperata eradication. Erythrina berteroana: leguminous shade tree suited to wide climatic range; alley cropping and windbreaks; propagate by cuttings. Caesalpinia spinosa/Coulteria tinctorea (known as "tara" in Bolivia): slow-growing, leguminous, very drought-resistant tree for high altitudes; young seeds reportedly edible by humans but mature seeds toxic; not palatable to goats. ´Lee' or American joint vetch, Aeschynomene americana: green manure, forage good for low areas or drainage ditches, 1000mm rain.

Request the following from Dr. Phillip W. Simon, Dept. of Horticulture, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA; fax 608/262-4743; psimon@facstaff.wisc. edu. High-carotene cucumbers, a cross of commercial US varieties and a Chinese variety yield a large proportion of yellow-orange fruits. This is a new release from the University of Wisconsin with potential to add Vitamin A to the diet. You may request a packet for trial and selection in your area from Dr. Simon (not ECHO). Return to Index.