Growing tall trees to provide shade for cocoa plantations in west Africa could sequester millions of tonnes of carbon, according to a new study.

archived (Wayback Machine)

Abstract

A sufficient intake of fruits can alleviate micronutrient deficiencies and reduces the risks of a number of associated diseases. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, however, the production and consumption of fruits are inadequate on average and in particular so in specific seasons. To better incorporate fruits into local food systems while addressing the challenge of seasonal availability, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) has developed a methodology based on “fruit tree portfolios” that selects socio-ecologically suitable and nutritionally important fruit tree species for farm production, to meet local consumption needs. We here present this approach and illustrate it with data from a case study involving Western and Eastern Kenya. The approach uses mixed methods to capture on-farm fruit tree diversity and seasonality at a household level (n = 600 in our case study), the months of household’s food security and insecurity (n = 600) and food consumption patterns at an individual level, to identify dietary gaps (n = 294 women and child pairs in our example). In our case study, 31 fruit tree species were reported on farms in our Western Kenya sample (9 of which were indigenous) and 51 (27 indigenous) in Eastern Kenya. In addition, the median number of food-insecure months per household was four (ranging from 0 to 9 months) in Eastern Kenya and three (0 to 12 months) in Western Kenya. Finally, using 24-h recalls the proportion of women that had consumed a fruit the day before the interview was around 55% in Western Kenya and 80% in Eastern Kenya, with consumption averaging 93 and 131 g, respectively. Using these parameters for each site and fruit tree phenology and food composition data sets, we derived context-specific recommendations that involve promoting 11 fruit tree species to address micronutrient gaps.

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• Malawian households with fruit trees on their farms consumed more vegetables, and each additional tree species increased fruit consumption by 5% over a 10-year study period.
• Trees improve nutrition through direct consumption of fruits, ecosystem services that boost other crop production and potential income from sales, and they provide cooking fuel.
• Despite trees’ benefits, fruit and vegetable intake dropped 42% and 25%, respectively, due to rising food prices, currency devaluation and climate change.
• Researchers recommend including food-producing trees in Africa’s reforestation programs and shifting agricultural policies from focusing solely on staple grains to supporting diverse, nutritious crops.

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Not my photos.

Some friends in the Amazon recently discovered a new native fruit growing near their place, and they are now planting it in their food forest. The fruits that they found were already damaged, but the one shown in the thumbnail photo was mostly okay, and they said that the flavour reminded them of sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) and mango. The outer layer of pulp is sweeter than the segments around the seeds.

Immediately after ripening the fruits, the tree is flowering again, which is very fortunate for ID purposes.

I'd say that it's Porcelia mediocris based on the photos. Those flowers are clearly Annonaceae, and the shape of the fruit resembles other Porcelia fruits that I've seen. I arrived at the ID using these sources:

• list of Porcelia species
• This one is native to their region.
• visual confirmation of the fruit

Can anyone confirm? Does anyone think that it's something else?

Do you plant the seeds from fruits that you eat, or collect seeds from under mature trees in your area, or buy seeds from someone, or dig out plants that you find growing, or buy plants from a nursery, or trade with other fruit growers? Do you know of any excellent seed/plant sources that you're willing to share?

What are you doing, or what do you want to do, or what do you think that people should do, in order to achieve food security and avoid the most severe impacts of the worldwide trend toward cost-of-living crises, resource depletion, tariffs and trade wars, impediments to migration, accelerating climate change, and so on?

Are you currently producing your own food? Do you think that you're secure where you are, or that you will be in a few years, or do you plan to move somewhere else?

Do you forage? Dumpster dive? Do you share food with friends and neighbours? Do you trade services for food?

Just wondering who is out there and how they're managing...

• Bananas make up one of the largest tropical fruit export chains, with 20 million metric tons of bananas exported annually; a whopping 100 billion bananas are eaten globally each year.
• According to a recent study, the area suitable for export banana production in Latin America and the Caribbean could be reduced by 60% due to climate change and other factors, such as population density and distance from ports.
• Research highlights that countries located in the Global South may find it more difficult to adapt to climate change than wealthier countries due to a lack of resources.
• Although the study focuses on large, intensive banana plantations, researchers say small farmers could also be affected by climate change; however, they may be more resilient to climate shocks because they often use a production system that values crop diversity.

archived (Wayback Machine):

• Mongabay article
• research cited

The researchers conclude that among the climatic factors they analyzed, temperature would be the only factor responsible for the loss of suitable areas, as the increasing temperatures will be harmful to banana yields. “This is particularly the case in dry regions, or regions which will become dry. In addition, extreme events such as hurricanes and storms can damage production, for example the Caribbean,” Bebber says.

The analysis is based on a scenario in which there would be no labor migration, port expansion or irrigation in the future. Therefore, the climate crisis will likely cause the areas most suitable for banana production to become more distant from regions that currently have sufficient irrigation and population density to guarantee labor, as well as becoming more distant from ports, which are essential infrastructure for the export chain. According to Bebber, “to continue production in these new suitable areas, we’ll have to ensure we have sufficient irrigation (in some places), workers, and transport infrastructure.”

From the abstract of the study:

We found that intensive banana production is constrained to low-lying, warm aseasonal regions with slightly acidic soils, but is less constrained by precipitation, as irrigation facilitates production in drier regions. Production is limited to areas close to shipping ports and with high human population density.

Areas at reasonable elevations with sufficient year-round rainfall will remain suitable for non-commercial banana production for many years to come. Continue planting bananas in your food forest... just don't rely on only one kind.

This page continues the explanation: https://rainforestsaver.org/how-to-and-the-science/

related information:

• Agroforestry
• Abundance Agroforestry
• An Illustrated Guide to Agroforestry
• Natural succession of species in agroforestry and in soil recovery

Syntropic food forests are the way to go. The forest produces abundance, if only we are willing to work with it.

I live in a "rustic" house made of wood that is not naturally termite-resistant and was apparently not treated before/during the construction. There are termites here. I know that borax works for termite-proofing wood, and it is possible to get borax in the big cities in this part of the world, but I would need to disassemble the house and treat each piece of wood. I would rather not do that. The borax is also prohibitively expensive.

The oil of Tectona grandis or Milicia excelsa or a similar tree would probably work for discouraging the termites if slathered all over the wood that they must climb in order to enter the house, but even if I can find the trees growing somewhere, processing the oil seems like a big hassle, so I am seeking a simpler solution.

I was wondering if there is a fruit (oily, perhaps) that I could apply to the wood in order to keep the termites away. Preferably with a tolerable smell, but I've lived with the smell of neem oil before, and I enjoy eating noni, so I can handle a lot. Would any of the "medicinal" fruits work for this? I live in a tropical rainforest climate, and I know people who grow fruits from all over the world, so I may be able to find something suitable if I know what to look for.

Thank you~

Pourouma cecropiifolia

It's an Amazon tree, but it's not a grape.

• Useful Tropical Plants
• World Flora Online
• Fruits of Warm Climates
• Wikipedia

This tree grows very quickly and bears fruit at a young age, but it has the tendency to grow too tall to harvest and to get top-heavy, so it's susceptible to blowing over in a storm.

This seems like an excellent fruit tree to consider as climate change makes growing conditions in many places more extreme. It tolerates heat, cold, wind, salt, drought, heavy rain, coastal sand dunes, rocky highlands...

Growables has more info and pretty pictures.

posted at the request of Lumicon

fruit featured:

• Rollinia mucosa

(This video shows "winter" production.)

study (Wayback Machine)

This is about Solanum cheesmaniae, not the domesticated Solanum lycopersicum or its wild ancestor Solanum pimpinellifolium.

I recently received seeds of a strange funky fruit from a friend in the Amazon. We have no idea what it is, and Jim West can't tell from the photos that my friend sent to him either. There was a delay in getting the seeds here, but I stuck them in some soil two days ago, and they are already starting to sprout, so they seem like survivors!

It's a medium-small tree that fruits in February/March at ~800m elevation in SE Ecuador. If anyone knows what it is, please don't hesitate to comment.

swap the background for a forest and that's goals

Central India, with its rich ecological diversity and dense forests, boasts a treasure trove of wild fruits that are not only edible but packed with nutritional and medicinal benefits. These fruits, often overlooked, serve as a source of sustenance and health for indigenous communities and are increasingly drawing attention for their potential in broader dietary applications. This blog delves into the scientific names, distribution, seasons, and benefits of some of the most remarkable wild fruits of Central India.

archived (Wayback Machine)

fruits featured:

• Madhuca longifolia
• Diospyros melanoxylon
• Ziziphus mauritiana
• Aegle marmelos
• Tamarindus indica
• Syzygium cumini
• Schleichera oleosa
• Mangifera indica (wild type)
• Buchanania cochinchinensis
• Limonia acidissima
• Grewia asiatica
• Neolamarckia cadamba
• Manilkara hexandra (sapodilla rootstock!)
• Ficus racemosa

also native to India:

• Garcinia indica
• Cullenia exarillata (durian rootstock!)

India is known as the land of spices, but it has plenty of native fruits too! Does anyone know of any other remarkable fruits native to India? There are probably plenty more.

Morning frosts have hit Serbian fruit production hard, mainly affecting early stone fruit varieties.

In the Čačak region, experts from the Institute of Fruit Growing report that 95% of apricot crops have been destroyed.

The damage varies by location, with Vojvodina experiencing more than 90% loss in lowland areas, while areas near Belgrade show 40-50% damage.

Cherries and pears have also suffered, with a complete damage assessment expected by the end of April.

archived (Wayback Machine)

fruit featured:

• Mauritia flexuosa

See also: making morete chicha

archived (Wayback Machine)

A couples of months ago, I planted a bunch of baby engkala trees (Litsea garciae) on the neighbour's land in order to fight back against the grass. I've never planted engkala before this, but supposedly it works. I planted the trees along the edge between the area that they farm and the area used as cow pasture. There is NO canopy cover over there, no shade at all, but fortunately there were still some dead leaves from the native trees that they had cut down, so I could at least mulch around the babies.

The days immediately after I planted them were unseasonably hot and sunny with no rain at all, and it looks like they got burnt pretty badly in the sun. The neighbours also seem to have stepped on some of them and sprayed that whole border area with glyphosate (so all the other vegetation is dead), but against all odds, every single engkala is alive and putting out new growth. I think that's awesome. Everything is trying to kill them, and these trees just say "FUCK YOU. WE ARE ENGKALA. RESISTANCE IS FRUITILE."

Engkalahu akbar!

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/22866979

Source: https://mastodon.social/@MrLovenstein/113844297604610435

Secret panel: https://tapas.io/episode/220482

Alt text from replies: 4 panel comic.

First panel: A strawberry, a raspberry, and a blueberry are sitting on the floor. A tomato comes along and asks: "Can I join berry club?" – "Sorry, Tomato. Berries only", says Strawberry.

Second panel: Tomato holds up a sheet of paper. "Well this article says I am a berry and you're not." Angrily, Strawberry says "No way! 'Berry' is right in my name!"

Third panel: Close-up on Strawberry and Raspberry. "What?! I'm an 'accessory' fruit? What the hell is that?!", says Strawberry in disbelief, looking at the paper. "I'm not a Berry either?!!" exclaims Raspberry, sweating.

Fourth panel. "These are strange times for berry club. Strange times." says Blueberry. Tomato, a watermelon, and a banana are sitting next to it. Strawberry is sitting way in the background, looking sad.

posted at the request of Lumicon

fruit featured:

• Litsea garciae

(A savoury fatty fruit that has what avocado lacks. It's like salty mushrooms with cheese.)

Is there a fruit that you wish more people knew about? It could be for reasons of superior nutrition, or higher yield, or ecological benefits, or suitability for your local conditions, or satisfying the cravings that banana cannot, or simply deliciousness or uniqueness of flavour.

I have two that come to mind.

I've seen too many people in the rainforest buying mangos (Mangifera indica) grown far away and then planting the seeds expecting to get fruit based on ignorance or based on rumours that they heard from some neighbour's friend's cousin that mangos are starting to fruit in the area. Other than in times of exceptional drought, it doesn't work. Mangifera casturi is a species native to the non-seasonal rainforest of Borneo, and it fruits abundantly even in constant rain and damp, and yes, the fruit quality is comparable to a clonal selection of Mangifera indica and superior to many seedlings of that species. The flavour is intense and delicious. Mangifera casturi deserves far more attention.

Astrocaryum murumuru is not such a delightful fruit in comparison, but it fills an important niche. I know many people who enjoy (and even seem to develop somewhat of an obsession with) a particular spiny palm and its fruit of questionable edibility. Anything that that plant can do, murumuru can do better. The fruit is decidedly more edible (spines notwithstanding), as it doesn't contain calcium oxalate crystals that stab all of the soft tissue in one's insides, and it is more sweet and not so much a dry, greasy, starchy assault on the digestive system. The palm itself is more sturdy, less prone to falling over so long as it is able to grow a straight stem and its roots are in stable ground. The spines are far superior, truly a marvel to behold, as they easily achieve at least double the length of those found in many other palm species, with enhanced sharpness for piercing even bone. This plant is not for everyone, but it is a truly excellent choice for those who want a fruiting palm that poses a major hazard to all who encounter it. Great for planting along borders, and the neighbours won't steal the fruit.

The UK's strawberry season is off to a "stonking start", according to one grower, with warm days and cooler nights meaning they are sweeter than usual.

archived (Wayback Machine)

Related: Farm has earliest fruit harvest in 50 years

Recent weeks of hot weather have given one fruit farm its earliest season in more than 50 years.

archived (Wayback Machine)

2015:

Planting some marang in close quarter for pollination and nutrition for the future of Terra Frutis with a quick rundown on planting technique.

2019 update:

First tree is producing and in the years ahead we are looking at seeing over 40 trees coming into production at Terra Frutis! Most will be in 2 years from now, but many more in 6-12 months!

2022 update:

Straight to the action! Harvesting marang at Terra Frutis! What a delicious fruit. Come join us!

2024 update:

Discover how this majestic tree, native to Southeast Asia, grows and thrives in tropical climates. From its lush foliage to its unique fruit, we explore the Marang experience.

The Marang Fruit is known for its sweet and creamy flavor reminiscent of a blend between jackfruit and durian. We best describe the flavor as marshmallows...

Whether you're a seasoned fruit enthusiast or simply curious about exotic produce, our journey into the world of the Marang Fruit promises to be a flavorful adventure you won't soon forget!

fruit featured:

• Artocarpus odoratissimus