KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | Researcher develops trees for dry, rural areas

Researcher develops trees for dry, rural areas

Associated Press - November 26, 2009 2:45 PM ET

FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) - A New Mexico State University researcher is taking tree planting to new heights to help arid, impoverished regions in the Four Corners area and Africa.

New Mexico State University's Agricultural Science Center superintendent Mick O'Neill says specially developed trees and hedges can be used as tools for economic development.

The agro-forester's research is being used by more than 200,000 small dairy farmers in East Africa. It's also being introduced on the Navajo reservation.

O'Neill says trees provide rural families with timber, poles, fuel, fruit, animal fodder and medicine.

In New Mexico, he's researching hybrid poplar trees that grow with little water.

In Africa, O'Neill helps farmers plant specially designed hedge rows that provide high-protein feed for cows and add nitrogen to the soil.

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