The potential use of the pejibaye palm in agroforestry systems

Abstract

The pejibaye's potential for the small holder, especially in an agroforestry environment, is summarized: the fruit can be a significant addition to the family diet and income, both directly and as animal feed; on farm processing of the fruit for baking and other culinary uses has great potential and excedents can be marketed; small scale palmito production can also play an important part in the diet and farm income; oil production may be interesting after improved varieties are developed. The pejibaye's ecological requirements and limitations, its agronomic requirements and practices for small-scale production and its role in agroforestry systems are discussed. A list of Latin American researchers and germplasm contacts is given.

Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) in tropical Latin America: implications for biodiversity conservation, natural resource management and human nutrition

“…Given its rapid juvenile growth (1.5-2 m year -1 ) and moderate light interception when spaced appropriately, peach palm may be considered a promising tree for canopy strata in agroforestry systems (Clement 1989;Cordero et al 2003;Clement et al 2004). Table 3 summarizes the wide range of species associations that are encountered in peach palm production systems of Central and South America.…”

“…In the Peruvian Amazon peach palm is cultivated within agroforestry mosaics that are characterized by several components, such as annual subsistence crops (e.g., manioc, yam and plantain), fruit crops (e.g., pineapple, cashew and guava), and latematuring fruit trees (e.g., Pouraqueiba sericea and Theobroma bicolor). In such agroforestry systems peach palm is grown at a density of approximately 290 trees ha -1 (Coomes and Burt 1997), though in most traditional Amazonian agroforestry systems densities of only 3-20 plants ha -1 have been reported (Clement 1989;Clay and Clement 1993). Peach palm is also commonly cultivated in monoculture, with an average plant density of around 400 plants ha -1 (Mora- Kopper et al 1997;Clement et al 2004).…”

Forest products, livelihoods and conservation: case studies of non-timber forest product systems. volume 3 - Latin America

“…Unlike other species in this study, pupunha is an agricultural crop, grown principally in home gardens and various agroforestry systems (Clement 1986(Clement , 1989(Clement , 2000. Nowhere in its range are natural populations managed or even used today (except very occasionally as ornamentals), although wild pupunha (B. gasipaes var.…”

Productos forestales, medios de subsistencia y conservacion: estudios de caso sobre sistemas de manejo de productos forestales no maderables. volumen 3 - America Latina

“…Ao contrário de outras espécies contempladas neste estudo, a pupunha é uma espécie agrícola, cultivada principalmente em quintais e sistemas agroflorestais (Clement 1986(Clement , 1989(Clement , 2000 (Foto 1). Em nenhum lugar da sua área de ocorrência natural as populações naturais são manejadas ou mesmo usadas atualmente (exceto muito ocasionalmente como planta ornamental), embora as pupunhas selvagens (B. gasipaes var.…”