Brosimum alicastrum Sw. (Breadnut or Maya nut), of the Moraceae family, is an underutilised tropical food tree with high nutritional, cultural, and ecological importance in Mesoamerica. Despite its potential as a sustainable forest-based food crop, large uncertainty remains regarding its reproductive biology and fruit morphology, contributing to highly variable and unpredictable yields. This study elucidates the reproductive system, pollination strategy, and fruit characteristics of B. alicastrum in two forested areas of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala: Uaxactún and Sierra del Lacandón. Using forest inventories, canopy-based floral observations, fruit and seedling assessments, and ethnobotanical interviews with local collectors, to assess site-specific variation in reproductive traits and yield proxies. Results demonstrate clear differences between populations. Uaxactún exhibited a predominantly monoecious system with female and hermaphroditic individuals, where nearly all trees showed signs of reproduction. In contrast, Sierra del Lacandón showed evidence of a dioecious population, with a substantial proportion of non-reproductive (male) trees, explaining lower and less reliable yields. Floral morphology, absence of animal pollinators, exposed stigmas, and abundant pollen strongly indicate wind pollination. Furthermore, the fruit is reclassified from a drupe or berry to a sorosis, a composite infructescence formed from the entire inflorescence. These findings reconcile longstanding contradictions in the literature and highlight the importance of population-specific reproductive strategies for management, conservation, and the future development of B. alicastrum as an opportunity tree crop for food security.
Tag: seeds
Manual of forest fruits, seeds and seedlings
Consultant’s report on tree improvement and seed procurement
Improving access to quality tree seeds through strong genetics, capacity, and science-based restoration
Tree growing plays a central role in ecological restoration, ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation across Rwanda’s Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin, and Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. However, there are key constraints in the diversity and genetic quality of the tree seed and seedlings that are being used for ecological restoration. These constraints are exacerbated by an increase in demand for tree seed and seedlings to meet ecological restoration commitments; and by the exposure of the trees to changing growing conditions coupled with climate change. While the demand for tree seed and seedlings is increasing to meet tree-planting commitments, limited attention to the quality and climate resilience of planting material undermines long- term ecological restoration efforts. The Quality Tree Seed project responds to this challenge by improving access to high-quality, diverse, and climate-resilient tree seed and seedlings, ensuring that quality tree seed and seedlings are planted in the right places to support ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation, and food security.
The interaction of cowpea maturity with degree of waterlogging in the post-rice environment
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.>) Walp) is grown widely as an inexpensive source of protein in tropical regions. Production is often limited by either waterlogged or dry soils in the wet-dry transition period following rice because periodically saturated soils are followed by progressively severe drought. an optimum fit of cultivar phenology to these situations is crucial to higher, stable yields. The responses of a set of diverse cowpea cultivars differing in maturity were compared under a line-source moisture gradient applied during the vegetative stage on a isohyperthermic, clayey, Typic Tropudalf with a fluctuating shallow water table, during two dry season in the Philippines. In 1986-87, in saturated soil, the mean yields of the medium-maturing grain (460 g ha-1) and dual-purpose (460 kg ha-1) types exceeded yield of the early maturing grain (250 kg ha-1) and vegetable (210 kg ha -1) types, with a similar ranking (920, 730, 470, and 390 kg ha-1) without irrigation. In 1988, the medium-maturing cultivar group had a mean yield 985 kg ha-1 in saturated soil and 1389 kg ha-1 in unirrigated, again exceeding the early-maturity group with yields of 544 and 985 kg ha-1, respectively. Saturated soil reduced seed yields by 10 to 71 in 1986-87 and 10 to 42 in 1988. Pods per plant, seeds per pod, and individual seed mass of the cultivars were reduced 13 to 32, 12 to 19, and 3 to 12, respectively. The results suggest that the best medium-maturing cultivars had superior adaptation to that of the best expected in post-rice niches with a deep water table and limited soil water reserves.
Quality tree seed accelerate forest landscape restoration and enhance forest production in Ethiopia
Relationship between soil seed bank and altitudinal gradient in the Urban Forested Mountain Landscape of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
As cities grow, restoring and protecting urban forests is essential. Analyzing the diverse species within soil seed banks offers key insights for successful management. These seed banks hold historical and current vegetation data, helping predict future patterns and guide restoration efforts by natural regeneration. The study aimed to analysis the soil seed bank, composition, look into the diversity and potential for restoration. Data were collected and analyzed from 85 plots with elevations ranging from 2500 to 3000 m. The investigation was conducted in the mountain forest landscape of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 22 plant families, 44 genera and 56 species were found in the five-altitudinal ranges. Among the identified plants, 40 species were herbs, which represents 71.4% of the total seed bank flora and the highest number of herb species recorded in all altitudinal ranges. Five tree species were recorded from the seed bank flora, two of which were native (Juniperus procera, and Vachellia abyssinica) and three of which were exotic species (Cuprressus lusitanica, Acacia merensii and Eucalyptus globulus). Across all elevations (altitudinal gradients), seed density exhibited a decreasing trend from the top layer (0–3 cm) to the bottom layer (6–9 cm) of the soil samples. Low similarities between the soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation were recorded, with Jaccard’s Coefficient of Similarity (JCS) values ranging from 0.133 to 0.16 and Sørensen’s coefficients (S) ranging from 0.24 to 0.28. Juniperus procera and Vachillea abyssinica, native and characteristic species of dry Afromontane vegetation of Ethiopia, were found in the soil seed bank suggests potential for restoration through natural regeneration. There are three exotic species (Cuprressus lusitanica, Acacia mearnsii and Eucalyptus globulus) which are providing different ecosystem services are recorded in soil seed bank. Thus, this study recommend that the soil seed bank can play a role to restore native and characteristics species such as Junipers procera and Vachillea abyssinica in peri-urban Afromontane forest of Addis Ababa coupled with other restoration mechanism.
Assessment of seed distribution, dissemination, and diffusion pathways of priority tree plantation species in the Philippines
The study was conducted to understand and document the state of the country’s seeds sources, the origins of priority forest trees seeds, the system of seed distribution, dissemination and diffusion of priority tree plantation in the Philippines. It also tried to characterized and analyzed the major forest tree seed sources, seed producers and dealers of priority plantation species and their system of seed collection/acquisition system, processing, handling, storage and distribution practices. In the process, the seed quality and quantity supplied by the seed sources were evaluated as well as the phenotypic characteristics of the seed trees where the seeds were collected. Based from the results, a modification of the guideline for plus seed collection was proposed. Data were collected using document reviews, field surveys and interviews. The study also revealed that a considerable number of seed sources surveyed are distributed in three major islands of the country, located mostly in Mindanao. While there are seed sources that are easy to access, a limited number can be considered of phenotypically good quality due to absence of rouguing. The study also revealed five major categories of the tree seed producers, distributors and suppliers’ sources and four major seed pathway linkages from the origins and primary seeds sources to the various end-users. Likewise, the study also revealed five industrial tree plantation (ITP) species with the most number of seed
Quantitative variation of fatty acid composition in seed oil from baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) wild populations in sub-Sahara Africa
Baobab (Adansonia digitata L., Malvaceae) seed oil contains Fatty Acids (FAs) with commercial and cosmeceutical value. The influence of provenance and geographical region on FAs profile and content of seed oil from baobab wild populations in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was assessed in this study. The FA profiles were determined as fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) by Gas Chromatography (GC). Generally, the seed oil contained 17–22% saturated fatty acids (SFA), 32–38% monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and 22–26% polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Palmitic acid (C16:0) was the most abundant SFA, while oleic (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2, LA) were the dominant MUFA and PUFA, respectively. There existed significant (p < .05) variations in FAs concentration within and between the baobab provenances. Principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to determine relationships between FAs, provenances and countries. The variation in FAs content can be attributed to genetic, edaphic and climatic factors due to geographical locations.
Improving the availability of quality planting materials through community-based seed and seedling systems
Increasing the productivity in both crop and agroforestry subsectors is one of the measures taken to improve food security and livelihoods of subsistence farmers. This improvement can only be realized if subsistence farmers have access to quality planting material. The lack of high-quality planting material has been repeatedly identified as a major constraint to greater adoption of agroforestry innovations. The recognition of this fact has led to the development of national seed and seedling programs. However, the low capacity of these programs, the sluggish growth of the private sector, and the demand of subsistence farmers means they are obliged to seek alternative models. This paper discusses results and experiences drawn from a community-based seed and seedling production and dissemination system in the Western Highlands of Cameroon. The system is built on the concept of a rural resource centre in which capacities of farmers were strengthened to multiply improved planting material of four food crops and five fruit tree species. The rural resource centres are now sources of quality seeds and seedlings for farmers and institutional clients. The system has effectively improved the on-time dissemination, accessibility, affordability, and availability of quality planting material which are obtained at affordable prices due to proximity and reduced transport and distribution costs. Income from selling improved planting material has become an incentive for rural resources centres and helps to ensure sustainability of the system. Availability of quality seeds was found to increase on-farm crop yields by 20–40 %, while demand for improved seedlings has surpassed supplies in participating communities. The successful dissemination of this approach requires much more than the transfer of knowledge and availability of improved germplasm; it involves supporting the capacities of the rural resource centres, building partnerships with a range of stakeholders, increasing the involvement and interaction of government services, improving storage and marketing strategies, and decreasing dependency on external resources. The main challenge of the future is how to make such a system sustainable. Furthermore, in addition to the challenge of projecting and meeting the quantitative demands of farmers and other stakeholders, issues of seed quality and genetic diversity still need to be addressed when designing and implementing effective seed supply strategies and policies.