Gliricidia sepium - Pokok Baja

Pokok Gliricidia sepium atau ada yang memanggilnya pokok baja atau di Indonesia memanggil pokok gamal dan ia sesuai digunakan bagi tujuan memberi pokok lada hitam merambat naik.

Bunga dari Pokok Gliricidia Sepium

Kegunaan Pokok Gliricidia :

Sumber :  Gliricidia Sepium - http://www.paceproject.net/

Used For		Description
--------------------------------		----------------------------------------------------
Food	:	Flowers can be fried and eaten.
Fodder	:	Leaves are rich in protein and highly digestible for ruminants like goat and cattle, as they are low in fibre and tannin. There is evidence of improved animal production (both milk and meat) in large and small ruminants when Gliricidia is used as a supplement to fodder. However, non-ruminants fed on Gliricidia sepium have shown clear signs of poisoning.
Apiculture	:	The flowers attract honeybees (Apis spp.), hence it is an important species for honey production.
Fuel	:	Good for firewood and charcoal production. The wood burns slowly without sparking and with little smoke.
Timber	:	Very durable and termite resistant; used for railway sleepers, farm implements, furniture, house construction and as mother posts in live-fence establishment.
Poison	:	The leaves, seeds or powdered bark are poisonous to humans when mixed with cooked rice or maize and fermented. It has been used as a poison for pests like rats and mice.
Medicine	:	A traditional remedy for hair loss, boils, bruises, burns, colds, cough, debility, eruptions, erysipelas, fever, fractures, gangrene, headache, itch, prickly heat, rheumatism, skin tumours, ulcers, urticaria and wounds.
Erosion control	:	Hedgerows in alley cropping control soil erosion.
Shade and shelter	:	Often grown as shade for tea, coffee and cocoa. It is also used as a nurse tree for shade-loving species. Its fine, feathery foliage gives a light shade.
Reclamation	:	Can be planted to reclaim denuded land or land infested with Imperata cylindrica (Cogon grass)
Soil improver	:	Capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen, and can be used to improve soil fertility. Used as a green manure, G. sepium increases soil organic matter and helps to recycle soil nutrients because it produces much leaf litter. It also improves soil aeration and reduces soil temperature. It is a drought-resistant and valuable water-conserving species, because in the dry season it sheds most of its leaves, hence reducing water loss through transpiration.
Alley-cropping	:	Hedgerows in alley cropping slow weed growth and have been shown to reduce the incidence of disease in groundnut crops.
Boundary/barrier/support	:	Can be used for live fencing around cattle pastures and for delineating boundaries. Its fast growth, ease of propagation, nitrogen fixing ability and light canopy makes it ideal as live support for black pepper, vanilla and yam.

Oleh itu terdapat banyak kegunaan Pokok Gliricidia ini selain daripada menjadi penyokong/pokok tumpang bagi pokok lada hitam. Dari jadual di atas ia mempunyai pelbagai kegunaan dari samada daun, kulit pokok, batang, meningkatkan nilai tanah dengan bahan Nitrogen, pokok pemanjat bagi Vanilla dan Lada Hitam dan pelbagai kegunaan lagi.