Appendix
7.4 Discussion
a coconut palm leaflet. They are very popular and this trade could be further developed, just like the trade in Canarium, as an export industry. In Papua New Guinea the fruits of T. kaernbachiiare used in a similar way and it might be interesting to introduce this species elsewhere in Melanesia and in Polynesia.
The fruit of this species is the largest among the Combretaceae.
these morphotypes because of cross-pollination. Only breadfruit and golden apple (Spondias cytherea), which may also be propagated by asexual means, provide morphotypes with stable names. Certain species with particular fruit characteristics, for example Syzygium malaccense, will, however, produce the same morphotype in the absence of vegetative propagation. Continuous selection of the same morphotype, one generation after another, has produced cultivars that have particular traits and are easily distinguishable by their fruit colour, nut shape and other morphological characters.
Farmers observe slight variations in the form, taste, colour and size of the fruits that they are consuming and have a marked tendency to conserve each distinct morphotype for preference, necessity or prudence purposes, and sometimes just for the sake of having orchards exhibiting variation. Some farmers have developed their own collections that include morphotypes not known to other people and that they will use to exchange with new ones, thereby increasing diversity. They also preserve them by necessity because some are early-maturing while others are late-maturing, thereby extending the consumption period. Certain morphotypes of species such as Artocarpus altilis andInocarpus fagiferalso cook more rapidly than others. Since all do not have the same taste, each one is therefore a slightly different food. Some morphotypes are also more resistant than others to diseases, and risk management is important when one considers the frequency of natural disasters in this part of the world, such as landslides, cyclones, El Niño and tsunamis.
The practice of selecting and assembling the best morphotypes has resulted in a major transformation of the landscape. The fruiting trees are found mainly in or near villages, gathered into small plantations, near the subsistence gardens whose boundaries they mark. They are often assembled in orchards, where they represent an artificial population composed of individuals differing in provenance. The flow of genes is not controlled but the system is obviously efficient in generating diversity.
Obviously, the most appreciated morphotypes are propagated more frequently than the others and are therefore more abundant. The least utilized are sometimes, but not always, cut out. There is therefore an ongoing erosion of genetic stock in favour of genotypes that correspond to local tastes and needs. As molecular data are not available it is difficult to assess the extent to which inbreeding depression may narrow the genetic base in this insular environment. It is also difficult to correlate morphological variation with geographical distribution and centres of origin. Since these species have a long lifespan, generally exceeding that of humans, it is difficult to determine the genealogy of the morphotypes and their names will disappear with them.
Because in most cases these species have been introduced on these Oceanic islands from voyaging canoes, studies using molecular markers might indicate a significant bottleneck on each island (Lebot, 1999).
In the long term, it might be interesting to develop in situmanagement of these resources with the participation of farmers. After all, they have already demonstrated their ability to generate diversity and to preserve it. Their traditional management system could be greatly improved by introducing into their orchards new alleles originating from exotic germplasm, which will
recombine and allow further selection of recombinants for local adaptation.
The most appropriate approach to the conservation of the genetic resources of indigenous fruit and nut tree species in Oceania is to increase the farmers’ long- term access to useful genes. In many islands of the Pacific, the genetic basis of most of these species is probably narrow because of the insular environment and could be broadened if the species were to be able to respond to their rapidly changing environmental as well as to patterns of human use. However, in order to be acceptable to farmers and to be kept as part of their varietal portfolio, any new genotypes must perform better than those presently cultivated, as judged by the farmers’ own criteria and perceptions.
Diverse provenances could be introduced and recombined with the locally adapted varieties. The requirements of village orchards can be satisfied by recurrent selection of the best individuals in the best provenances. This directed, controlled mixing of the gene pool is the only way of ensuring the long-term conservation and sustainable use of germplasm before it is lost and before its economic potential can be assessed and exploited.
Another appropriate way of preserving this remarkable diversity is to make sure that it does not become obsolete. Because of urbanization and the ease of obtaining and preparing introduced food, thanks to globalization, the importance of traditional foods, such as those derived from indigenous species, is diminishing rapidly. A sensible market development strategy could be directed first at meeting domestic demand for fresh fruits or roasted nuts. Some of the nuts may also be packaged attractively as niche market products.
Overseas markets are available for nuts in the shell as well as for oil, particularly for Canarium harveyi. For this species there is also a need for new on-farm storage systems. For all cultivated nut tree species, cultivar selection and improved processing are needed to reduce the unacceptable level of bitterness of the nuts. For Terminalia, for example, the major constraints are the low kernel-to-nut ratio and the high moisture content.
References
Barrau, J. (1962) Les plantes alimentaires de l’Océanie, origines, distribution et usages.
Annales du Musée Colonial de Marseille, Marseille, France, 276 pp.
Evans, B. (1999) Edible nut trees in Solomon islands: a variety collection of Canarium, Terminalia and Barringtonia. ACIAR Technical Report No. 44, 96 pp.
French, B.R. (1986) Food Plants of Papua New Guinea: a Compendium. Private, 20 Main Street, Sheffield, Tasmania, Australia.
Lebot, V. (1992) Genetic vulnerability of Oceania’s traditional crops. Experimental Agriculture28, 309–323.
Lebot, V. (1999) Biomolecular evidence for
plant domestication in Sahul. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 46, 619–628.
Pollock, N. (2002) Vegeculture as food security for Pacific communities. In: Yoshida, S. and Matthews, P.J. (eds) Vegeculture in Eastern Asia and Oceania. JCAS Series No. 16.
JCAS, Osaka, Japan, pp. 277–292.
Ragone, D. (1991) Ethnobotany of breadfruit in Polynesia. In: Cox, P.A. and Banack, S.A.
(eds) Islands, Plants and Polynesians: An Introduction to Polynesian Ethnobotany.
Diocorides Press, Portland, Oregon, pp.
203–220.
Ragone, D. (1997) Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis
(Parkinson) Fosberg. IPGRI (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute), Rome, 78 pp.
Smith, A.C. (1981) Flora Vitiensis Nova: A New Flora of Fiji, Volume 2. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii, 810 pp.
Smith, A.C. (1985) Flora Vitiensis Nova: A New Flora of Fiji, Volume 3. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii, 758 pp.
SPC Demography/Population Programme (2000) [see http//:www.spc.int/demog/
Accessed 10 July 2007].
Stevens, M.L., Bourke, R.M. and Evans, B.
(1996) South Pacific Indigenous Nuts.
Proceedings of a Workshop held from 31 October to 4 November 1994, at Le Lagon Resort, Port Vila, Vanuatu. ACIAR Proceedings No. 69. ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research), Canberra, 176 pp.
Walter, A. (1989) Notes sur les cultivars d’arbre à pain dans le nord du Vanuatu.
Journal de la Société des Océanistes 88/89, 3–18.
Walter, A. and Lebot, V. (2003) Jardins d’Océanie, Les Plantes Alimentaires du Vanuatu. Collection ‘Didactiques’. Presses de l’IRD, Montpellier, France, 320 pp.
Walter, A. and Sam, C. (1999) Fruits d’Océanie.
Collection ‘Didactiques’. Presses de l’IRD, Montpellier, France, 310 pp.
Walter, A., Sam, C. and Bourdy, G. (1994) Etude ethnobotanique d’une noix comestible: les Canarium du Vanuatu.
Journal de la Société des Océanistes98, 81–98.
Wheatley, J.L. (1992) A Guide to the Common Trees of Vanuatu, with Lists of their Traditional Uses and Ni-vanuatu Names.
Department of Forestry, Port-Vila, Vanuatu, 308 pp.
Whistler, A. (1984) Annotated list of Samoan plant names. Economic Botany 38, 464–489.
Whitmore, T.C. (1986) Guide to the Forests of the British Solomon Islands. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 208 pp.
Yen, D.E. (1985) Wild plants and domesti- cation in Pacific islands. In: Misra, V.N.
and Bellwood, P. (eds) Recent Advances in Indo-Pacific Prehistory. Oxford and IBH, New Delhi, pp. 315–326.
Yen, D.E. (1993) The origins of subsistence agriculture in Oceania and the potentials for future tropical food crops. Economic Botany47, 3–14.
Yen, D.E. (1998) Subsistence to commerce in Pacific agriculture: some four thousand years of plant exchange. In: Prendergast, H.V.D., Etkin, N.L., Harris, D.R. and Houghton, P.J. (eds) Plants for Food and Medicine. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK, pp. 161–183.
Zerega, N., Ragone, D. and Motley, T.J. (2006) Breadfruit origins, diversity and human facil- itated distribution. In: Motley, T.J., Zerega, N.
and Cross, H. (eds) Darwin’s Harvest: New Approaches to the Origins, Evolution and Conservation of Crops. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 213–238.
8 Creating Opportunities for Domesticating and Commercializing Miombo Indigenous Fruit Trees in Southern Africa
F.K. A
KINNIFESI,
1O.C. A
JAYI,
1G. S
ILESHI,
1P. M
ATAKALA,
2F.R. K
WESIGA,
3C. H
AM,
4I. K
ADZERE,
5J. M
HANGO,
6S.A. M
NG’
OMBA,
7T. C
HILANGA8ANDA. M
KONDA91World Agroforestry Centre, ICRAF, Lilongwe, Malawi;
2World Agroforestry Centre, ICRAF, Maputo, Mozambique;
3Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Accra, Ghana;4Department of Forest and Wood Science, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, South Africa;5Department of Agricultural Research and Extension, Ministry of Agriculture, Harare, Zimbabwe;6Mzuzu University, Mzuzu, Malawi;7Department of Plant Production and Soil Science, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa;8Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station, Limbe, Malawi;
9Zambia-ICRAF Agroforestry Project, Chipata, Zambia