Tree Improvement in the Domestication programme of Indigenous fruit Trees Native to Southern Africa: the Botswana experience | The Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Fruit Trees in The SADC Region
1990
Mateke, M.S. | Shumba, E.M. | Lusepani, E. | Hangula, R.
Non-timber products(veld products) are now known to present opportunities for diversification of producre and processing. Increasingly, it is becoming claer that domestication and cultivating veld products could increase yields, reduce collection times and make processing a more viable option. Presented here are achievements made by Veld Products Research & development(VPR&D) and its partners in indigenous fruit tree improvement and domestication. Tree species such as Marula(Sclerocarya birrea), Mankett nut (Schinziophyton rautanenii9, Wild orange(Strychnos cocculoides), African chewing gum(Azanza garckeana) and Wild medlar(Vangueria infausta) show great potential as future horticultural tree crops. Collection and use of propagules from selected trees growing in the wild has led to new cultivars of the tree crops being developed. Different levels of shade have both positive and negative effects on the growth and health of young seedlings of S.birrea and S. cocculoides. Although fruit tree seedlings raised in nurseries can pick indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, artifical introduction of the right fungi at planting out of seedlings plays a significant role in the promotion of initial plant growth and development of these trees. Through grafting techniques, indigenous fruit trees' growth and fruit production hsa been improved greatly.
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