The role of Moringa oleifera in agro–ecosystems: a review

Moringa has been grown and cultivated in various agro-ecosystems ranging from small-scale backyard home gardens to large scale commercial production in tropical and sub-tropical agro-climatic ecosystems. It is grown in monoculture, mixed cropping such as intercropping, hedgerow intercropping or alley cropping system. In monoculture system, moringa is grown either for leaf production or seed production. High density monoculture planting of moringa is a cropping system mainly for maximum leaf biomass production. In mixed cropping systems, moringa is intercropped with high value crops such as vegetables and herbs. As a component of diverse agro-ecosystems moringa play a significant role including soil erosion control in sloping agricultural landscapes and carbon sequestration minimizing the consequences of climate change and global warming. In agroforestry systems, moringa is an important crop component which contributes to increasing soil fertility, soil moisture conservation and increased agro-economic returns. Although it is not a preferred tree species by agroforesters, it plays an important role in deforestation because of its ability to thrive in wastelands and provide rapid shade cover a better choice for many tree-planting projects. It is also a good nurse crop for slower-growing species that eventually will dominate the site. This paper presents a review of the significant role of moringa in agroecosystem and agro-industry based on studies conducted over the last 2 to 3 decades.