Articles
ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE EXPANSION OF FRUIT PRODUCTION IN THE TROPICS AND NEARBY REGIONS
Expanded use of fruits new to cultivation or new in an area, such as the native Eugenia stipitata in Amazonia and most common southeast Asian fruits in the American and African tropics, and the avocado (Persea americana) and peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) in the Old World tropics, can constitute a third approach toward meeting food needs.
A fourth approach, much needed, is plant exploration directed toward finding wild germplasm with traits needed in crop plants, such as the 14 edible species of Mangifera growing in Borneo.
Critical Third World food needs can be met in part by the palm Astrocaryum tucuma, a species of the humid tropics and supplies required amino also found in milk.
Carotenoids to prevent the threat of blindness prevalent in some areas can be supplied by pulp of oil and peach palms, Pouteria campechiana, Passiflora edulis, Mangifera indica and Calocarpum sapote, among other fruit crops.
The year 2,000 is a little over a dozen years away, so we have no time to delay in tackling the problems that date is bringing.
It is a definite, inescapable challenge.
In recent years, plant explorations have afforded me the opportunity to travel over considerable areas in Mexico, Brazil and Malaysia.
One positive element in each of these countries is the presence of an impressive cadre of young, well-educated specialists in plant science.
Some – regretably too few – are in attendance at this meeting.
These people are an international resource of incalculable value: the future literally depends on them.
May their number increase!
A meeting like this presents us forcefully with the question of what is to be done in the next 13 years and, we may hope, in the 12 years following them.
One effort already suggested is expanded use of fruit crops that mature quickly.
The crops discussed here are listed in Table 1 with their Latin names and sites of origin.
Obvious candidates for expanded use are papaya and passion fruit, both now grown widely and both susceptible to breeding efforts to extend their range and resistance to environmental stresses.
A recent success in this area is the introduction of the virus-tolerant ‘Cariflora’ papaya by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (3). Pineapple’s relatively quick maturity and adaptation to high-density planting