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 412

(Clement et al. , 2004). Costa Rica cultivates peach palm in 15,000-20,000 ha
of small farms. The Brazilian heart-of-palm market is huge internationally, but
production has failed because of low local demand, high shipping costs to
major markets, and poor planning and execution of business (Clement et al. ,
2004; Chapter 6, this volume). Production of peach palm represents 45% of
the income of many families in the Brazilian Amazon, producing 3% of the
annual 13,000 t produced nation-wide, and earning as much as US$990 per
household from an area of 1.5 ha (Clement et al. , 2004). However, in Brazil
and Peru, 50-60% of the fruits are also reported to have been wasted or
consumed at home due to quality problems (Clement et al. , 2004). Farmers in
Colombia cultivate 7000 ha of peach palm, yielding 7 t per ha.
The expanding supermarket trade has increased urban demand. Farmers
commercialize only 40% of production, earning US$660/ha per year. This is
worthwhile, as the minimum annual salary is only US$112 in Colombia. In
addition, the Colombian market for the fruit of peach palm is estimated at
20,000 t of fresh fruit (Clement et al. , 2004). Communities near Yurimagua in
Peru are reported to be earning US$2000 per season from the sale of best-
quality fruits, indicating a major income source in a region where annual
minimum income was US$900 in 2002. In addition, another community near
Pucallpa in Peru has been reported to have commercialized 25 t of camu camu
collected from the wild and their plantations, earning US$11,500 in the
2005/2006 season (Chapter 8).
Annona cherimoya is a very important indigenous fruit that is sold in local
markets and supermarkets in Latin America (Pinto et al. , 2005). The world
production in 1994 was about 81,000 t from 13,000 ha. In Brazil, a grower
could obtain US$24,000 at US$1.8/kg, from a yield of 33 kg per tree with
production cost between US$1500 and 3000 per hectare (Pinto et al. , 2005).
Between 200 and 250 t of fruit was produced in 1999 (Pinto et al. , 2005). It is
now being commercialized in Spain. Peru and Chile also produce A. cherimoya
on a commercial scale and this is exported to North America. Value addition
will increase competitive advantage.
Collectors of Brazil nut ( Bertholettia excelsa ) earn up to US$900 from 4.5 t
of nuts annually (Allegretti, 1994). This harvesting has dwindled for the rural
dwellers because of the establishment of plantations (Simons, 1996). Similarly,
the economic value of açaí-do-Pará ( Euterpe oleracea ) has been estimated
to yield a present value of US$1327-2693/ha in managed forests and
US$4266-6930/ha in homegardens (Muniz-Miret et al. , 1996).
21.5.2 Attributes for creating markets
Farmers' motivation for cultivating IFTs deserves particular attention. As seen in
Chapter 1, species choice is no longer a problem to research and development.
When the market is ignored, each farmer's choice depends on fruits that are
important for household consumption, fruits that are available in the locality
and prior knowledge or ease of cultivation. Given that the effects are not
necessarily uniform, the criteria for selecting indigenous fruit trees for