Inga and pruning schedules

What inga seeds look like and how to prepare them for alley cropping

In Inga alley cropping, there are a few different terms that mean different technical things for removing biomaterials. For instance, when Savimbo plants an alley conformation with the direct sowing method, we sometimes plant seeds at a higher density, then thin the rows of planted Inga to achieve a density of 0.5m

When to prune

Problem 1 (mine). I translated "altura de la cintura" as "waist height (approximately 1.5 m)." That equation is wrong. Waist height on an average Andean/Amazonian adult is ~95–105 cm. Hands' canonical pruning height is 1.5 m — which is chest-to-shoulder height, not waist. Hands gives a range of 1.0–1.75 m, but he calls 1.0 m "the suggested minimum with Inga." If Jeidy is genuinely cutting at waist, the Putumayo pilots are pruning at the bottom of Hands' tolerable range, which has consequences (slower foliage recovery, fewer nodes available for regrowth). If Jeidy meant chest height, her word choice is loose and we should fix it in source. Worth asking her.

How to prune

Problem 2 (Jeidy's). She says first pruning at one year of age. Hands 2021 says two years: "families were told that they could not expect any material benefit from the system for at least 2 years; i.e. until the Inga had closed its canopy and had achieved site-capture." Figure 7 caption: "Alley of Inga edulis at 2 years' growth and ready for the first pruning." The 1998 experimental sites pruned earlier (9 months La Conquista, 16 months San Juan), but those were paraquat-controlled experimental conditions. The farmer-validated Guama Model is 2 years. If Putumayo is genuinely getting canopy closure and site capture at 1 year, that's a real Amazon-vs-Honduras difference (better soils, faster growth) and Hands would want to know about it — not a casual edit.