Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
(Leakey and Tchoundjeu, 2001). The trade in fruit products from four IFTs (
D.
edulis
,
I. gabonensis
,
Cola acuminata
and
Ricinodendron heulotii
) involving
1100 traders in Cameroon and neighbouring countries (Ndoye
et al.
, 1997)
was worth US$1.75 million in the first half of 1995 (Ndoye
et al.
, 1997), and
exports to Nigeria and Europe were worth US$2 million per annum (Awono
et
al.
, 2002). One of the group nurseries set up by ICRAF in Cameroon,
comprising 15-30 farmers, made an income of US$2000 in 2004, US$5000 in
2005, and is projected to produce an annual income of US$10,000 from IFT
nursery activities (Tchoundjeu
et al.
, 2006).
Markets for IFT products in Asia
Approximately 140,000 t of tamarind fruits (
T. indica
) are reported to have been
produced on a commercial scale in Thailand, and exported in fresh and
processed form (Chapter 11). Tamarind is valued for its pulp, which contains
large amounts of vitamin C and sugar. Pharmaceutical industries use the pulp as
an ingredient in cardiac and blood-sugar-reducing medicines. Similarly,
Z.
mauritiana
is an important export crop in India, where 1 million t was reported to
have been produced during 1994/1995 from 88,000 ha (Pareek, 2001). In
1995/1996, 640 t were exported to countries in Asia, the Middle East and South
Africa. It is cultivated in many dry parts of India, and involves two formal
marketing chains in Chomu market of India: (i) producer-commission
agent-wholesaler-outside markets; and (ii) producer-preharvest contractor-
commission agent-wholesaler-outside markets. The producer receives 46% of
the market share through direct sale or 33% through preharvest contract (Pareek,
2001). It is also exported from China to other parts of Asia and Europe.
Markets for IFT products in Latin America
Latin America, especially the Amazon Basin, is a centre of diversity and
concentration of the world's most valued indigenous fruit trees. According to
Clement
et al
. (Chapter 6), the majority of fruits cultivated in the Amazon
basins are native, including eight domesticates, 18 semi-domesticates and
incipient domesticates, and another 33 fruit crops from other parts of tropical
America, which have been domesticated.
Peach palm (
Bactris gasipaes
) is a fully domesticated and cultivated
indigenous fruit nut in all the Amazon, and has been important in the area
from pre-Colombian times up until the present day. It is one of the best-known
underutilized fruit trees among more than 150 fruit tree species in the region
(Clement
et al.
, 1997, 2004), and is considered one of the top-priority
indigenous fruit tree species for agroforestry in the Amazon region (Sotelo-
Montes and Weber, 1997; Iniciativa Amazonica, unpublished report, 2006).
The heart-of-palm trade has been estimated at US$50 million per year
(Clement and Villachica, 1994). Brazil is by far the largest producer, with
production of 200,000 t in 1989, and 10,000 t exported in 1990, with the total
crop earning US$40 million (Yuyama, 1997). Currently, Costa Rica and
Ecuador are the two largest producers of the canned heart-of-palm product
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