Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics

Delectable, beautiful and sustainable, crops from tropical fruit trees are becoming increasingly important to feeding the world and improving the lives of smallholder farmers in developing nations. The only problem is, although these trees thrive in the right environment, they cannot be said to be domesticated in most cases, increasing risk for the farmer and inconsistencies in the market. This collection of 21 articles describe the process of domestication and recent research on cultivation of tropical fruit trees, covering candidates for domestication, strategies, and challenges to stimulating adoption of the trees to cultivation. They include case studies from Southeast Asia, India, Amazonia and Oceania, and describe regional domestication research and development in Africa. Contributors offer no less than nine articles on the biophysical and socio-economic context of Miombo fruit trees and closes with lessons on domesticating nut trees. Distributed by Oxford U. Press. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

edited by F K Akinnefesi, World Agroforestry Centre, Malawi; R B Leakey, James Cook University, Australia; O C Ajayi, World Agroforestry Centre, Malawi; G Sileshi, World Agroforestry Centre, Malawi; Z Tchoundjeu, World Agroforestry Centre, Cameroon; P Matacala, World Agroforestry Centre, Matacala; F R Kwesiga, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Ghana