Accelerated Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Fruit and Nut Trees to Enhance Better Livelihoods in the Tropics: Lessons and Way Forward - Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization - page 408

from 28 producers in six communities in 1994 to 4000 in 150 communities in
1997 (Chapter 6). The success of the programme has been detailed by Penn
(2006). Despite its top-down approach, the cultivation of camu camu has
spread in Peru because of the experienced smallholder farmers (reberenos)
who were able to apply their previous experiences. Farmers in Colombia
cultivate 7000 ha of peach palm, with yields of 7 t/ha (Chapter 6).
In southern Africa, farmers were supported to raise their own nurseries,
graft and establish trees on-farm. More than 12,000 farmers were trained in the
6 years of the Zambezi Basin Agroforestry Project (Chapter 8). However,
further research is needed into the scaling-up of indigenous fruit trees, to
reduce the gap between researcher-managed and farmer-managed orchards for
miombo fruit trees (F.K. Akinnifesi et al. , unpublished). In terms of adoption,
Mithöfer (2005) investigated the level of improvement needed to trigger the
mass adoption of IFT cultivation by farmers.
21.4.3 Pest management
Tree management is the key to differences in performance between exotic fruit
trees and IFTs. Fruit trees are known to be easily infested with pests and
diseases in the wild, and the level of infestation can easily escalate even further
when introduced to a new environment in the cultivated field. This aspect has
been extensively covered in Chapter 20. Clement et al. (2004) has observed
that susceptibility to pests may become a problem as cultivation of peach palm
is intensified, and insect pests such as Palmelampius heinrichi have reduced
fruit yield along the Pacific coasts of Colombia by up to 100%, and costs to
farmers could be prohibitively high. Sixty-four potential pests and diseases
were identified for camu camu, while four of these were prevalent enough to
cause significant economic damage (Penn, 2006). A parasitic climbing plant
known as 'suelda con suelda' ( Moradendron spp) was reported on 15% of
fields, and the leaf fungus Fumago spp. on 34% of fields, although floodwater
was thought by farmers to help reduce the impact of pests. In the Brazilian
Amazon, mistletoe is a menace to the introduction of cupuaçu ( Theobroma
grandiflorum ). EMBRAPA is currently deploying clonal improvement strategies
to develop pest-resistant cultivars.
21.5 Economics, Marketing and Commercialization of IFTs
21.5.1 Market potentials for IFT products
Trends in food markets have changed significantly in the last decade, with a
growing emphasis on variety and natural/organic products. For instance, it is
forecast that that UK functional food market will double to US$3.23 billion in
the next 5 years (Ham, 2005). The total value of fair trade natural products in
the USA, Canada and the Pacific Basin has increased by 37% and was
estimated at US$251 million in 2002 (Ham, 2005). Indigenous fruit tree