Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich.) Hochst. (Anacardiaceae) is one of the most prized multipurpose tree species of the Sudano-sahelian zone of Africa for its food, medicinal and artisanal uses. Unfortunately, it is still exploited from the wild and there has been little or no focused effort to domesticate and cultivate. To contribute to its domestication, a study was conducted on root segments cuttings (RSC) in view to assess the effect of substrate (sand, sawdust, top dark soil, sand/sawdust, top dark soil /sand, top dark soil /sawdust, top dark soil/sand/sawdust) and root diameter (0.5-1.1cm, 1.2-1.7cm, 1.8-3.7cm) on the aptitude to produce adventitious buds and roots. The root system of 17 genotypes was carefully and partially excavated to a depth of 20 cm. RSC of 15 cm long were carefully cut and arranged horizontally in a non-mist propagator, in seven rooting media. The experimental design used was a splitplot with four replications. The main treatment consisted of seven substrates while the secondary treatment was represented by three diameter size classes. For the rate of budding, the effect of substrate was significant (0.020<0.05). Sawdust performed the most with the rate of 28.33%. Concerning the diameter effect, the best class size was 1.8-3.5cm with a rate of 12.14%. The effect of substrate on rooting rate is significant (0.003<0.01). Rooting happened only in sawdust (26.75%) while for diameter, the rate of rooting ranged significantly (0.027< 0.05) from 3.99% in RSC of 0.5-1.1 cm to 23.33 % in those of 1.8-3.7 cm diameter. These results demonstrate that S. birrea presents ability to vegetative propagation. It is possible to regenerate superior trees by root segments cuttings.
