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 414

21.6 Remaining Challenges
21.6.1 Germplasm improvement and cultivation
Lack of planting material in sufficient quantity and quality is known to be a
major constraint to the adoption of agroforestry technology (Kwesiga et al. ,
2003; Akinnifesi et al. , 2006a). This will be even more critical for IFTs, as the
process of developing superior germplasm is lengthy and expensive. Measures
to speed up the multiplication of improved planting materials or elite cultivars
are necessary. With the exception of the studies in southern Africa, none of the
chapters in this topic has given detailed information about the tissue culture
approach to germplasm multiplication and delivery. This aspect deserves more
attention.
There is wide recognition for the need to use participatory methodology for
germplasm improvement in domestication. This participatory domestication
has been demonstrated as being plausible in various chapters in this topic
(Chapters 2, 6, 8 and 9) and the wider literature (Weber et al. , 2001; Akinnifesi
et al. , 2004a, 2006; Leakey et al. , 2005; Tchoundjeu et al. , 2006). The generic
clonal selection and domestication approach is illustrated by Leakey and
Akinnifesi (Chapter 2). Farmers are involved as co-developers and co-
domesticators, identifying priority species (Chapter 1) and product priorities
(Chapters 1 and 14), identifying elite cultivars, and undertaking clonal
propagating and tree management (Chapters 2, 6-8). Propagation approaches
are almost uniform in the regions. The remaining challenge is that a few IFTs of
high priority have not been advanced, e.g. Parinari curatellifolia in southern
Africa, Chrysophyllum albidum in West Africa.
The ideotype of trees may be necessarily modified by domestication. For
instance, bacuri and Brazil nut are 'dominant' or 'emergent' trees, in the forest;
it is not known to what extent their pollination would be affected in
domesticated forms, especially when grafted trees are used which are expected
to be shorter in height. Trees that are pollinated by wild animals or birds will
require effort to attract the pollinating agents.
The absence of clearly defined institutions and regulatory frameworks (or
ambiguous implementation of these when they exist) governing the collection
of plant genetic material collection from forests, communal lands and individual
farmers' fields may negatively impact on farmers' rights in future. In addition,
farmers' priorities may change, along with farm ownership and stewardship,
and subpopulations of selected elite cultivars may be lost or abandoned as a
result. Misuse of original IFT populations may occur, for instance in cases of
programme breakdown. The consequences of these on genetic diversity would
be serious in the case of the most intensively collected populations. Collection
of germplasm from a few superior clones and use of the trees produced as
progenitors of future generations could have severe effects on genetic diversity,
or even genetic flow (i.e. pollen and seed movement) from wild and other
populations (Cornelius et al. , 2006).
There is a need to expand the scope and range of the IFTs currently
researched in the different regions of the tropics. This will help farmers to meet