Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T11:29:15.233Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Crop productivity, yield and seasonality of breadfruit (Artocarpus spp., Moraceae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2014

Ying Liu
Affiliation:
Biochem., Univ. Br. Columbia, Kelowna, Br. Columbia, Canada
A. Maxwell P. Jones
Affiliation:
Gosling Res. Inst. Plant Preserv., Dep. Plant Agric., Univ. Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Susan J. Murch*
Affiliation:
Chem., Univ. British Columba, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, . [email protected]
Diane Ragone
Affiliation:
Breadfruit Inst., Natl. Trop. Bot. Garden, Kauai, Hawaii, USA
*
* Correspondence and reprints
Get access

Abstract

Introduction. Breadfruit, Artocarpus spp., is a staple crop with the potential to alleviate hunger and increase food security in tropical regions. Guidelines and recommendations for cultivar selection and production practices are now required for establishment of breadfruit in new areas. Materials and methods. To respond to this need for spreading breadfruit, our study quantified the growth, development, yield and seasonality of 24 breadfruit cultivars (26 trees) established in Kauai, Hawaii, over a 7-year period from 2006–2012. Individual production profiles were generated for each accessioned cultivar based on major agricultural factors. Results. Across all cultivars of breadfruit ( A. altilis), an average of 269 fruits per year was produced by each tree with an average fruit weight of 1.2 kg. Based on the planting density of 50 trees×ha–1, this translates to an average projected yield of 5.23 t×ha–1 after 7 years. Hybrids (A. altilis × A. mariannensis) had a higher yield than breadfruit. The data of our article support the previously proposed hypothesis for predicting breadfruit seasonality. On average, the peak season occurred from July to November. Conclusions. Ma’afala, the first widely available commercial cultivar, started to bear fruit within 22 to 23 months of planting. Other cultivars with potential for commercial production include Toneno, White, Rotuma and Meinpadahk.

Type
Original article
Copyright
© 2014 Cirad/EDP Sciences

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ragone D., Raynor B., Breadfruit and its traditional cultivation and use on Pohnpei, in: Balick M.B. (Ed.), Ethnobotany of Pohnpei: Plants, people, and island culture, Univ. Hawaii Press and N.Y. Bot. Garden Press, U.S.A., 2009.
Ragone D., Farm and forestry production and marketing profile for breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), in: Elevitch C.R. (Ed.), Specialty Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry, Perm. Agric. Res. (PAR), Hulualoa, U.S.A., 2011.
Anon., The state of food insecurity in the world 2012: Economic growth is necessary but not sufficient to accelerate reduction of hunger and malnutrition, FAO, WFP, IFAD, Rome, Italy, 2012.
Anon., Agriculture and Food Security Center, The Global Challenge: To feed 9–10 billion people by 2050 in ways congruent with positive social, environmental, and economic outcomes, Colombia Univ., U.S.A., 2013.
Anon., How to feed the world, FAO, Rome, Italy, 2009.
Jones, A.M.P., Ragone, D., Tavana, N.G., Bernotas, D.W., Murch, S.J., Beyond the Bounty: Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) for food security and novel foods in the 21st century, Ethnobot. Res. Appl. 9 (2011) 129149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, A.M.P., Ragone, D., Aiona, K., Lane, A.W., Murch, S.J., Nutritional and morphological diversity of breadfruit ( Artocarpus, Moraceae): Identification of elite cultivars for food security, J. Food Comp. Anal. 24 (2011) 10911102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, A.M.P., Baker, R., Ragone, D., Murch, S.J., Identification of pro-vitamin A carotenoid-rich cultivars of breadfruit (Artocarpus, Moraceae), J. Food Comp. Anal. 31 (2013) 5161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Englberger, L., Aalbersberg, W., Ravi, P., Bonnin, E., Marks, G.C., Fitzgerald, M.H., Elymore, J., Further analyses on Micronesian banana, taro, breadfruit and other foods for provitamin A carotenoids and minerals, J. Food Comp. Anal. 16 (2003) 219236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Englberger, L., Lorennij, R., Taylor, M., Documentation, nutritional content, traditional knowledge and conservation of Marshall Islands breadfruit cultivars, Acta Hortic. 979 (2013) 9396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, A.M.P., Murch, S.J., Wiseman, J., Ragone, D., Morphological diversity in breadfruit (Artocarpus, Moraceae): Insights into domestication, conservation, and cultivar identification, Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 60 (2013) 175192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meilleur B.A., Jones R.R., Titchenal C.A., Huang A.S., Hawaiian breadfruit: Ethnobotany, nutrition, and human ecology, Univ. Hawaii Press, Honolulu, U.S.A., 2004.
Murch, S.J., Ragone, D., Shi, W.L., Alan, A.R., Saxena, P.K., In vitro conservation and sustained production of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, Moraceae): modern technologies for a traditional tropical crop, Naturwiss. 95 (2008) 99107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zielinski, S., Botanists spread the gospel that breadfruit can be manna, Science 342 (2013) 303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, A.M.P., Murch, S.J., Ragone, D., Diversity of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, Moraceae) seasonality: A resource for year-round nutrition, Econ. Bot. 64 (2010) 340351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowers, R.D., Breadfruit – a low energy requirement source of carbohydrate for the wet tropics, Entwickl. Laendlicher Raum 2 (1981) 1113.Google Scholar
Fownes, J.H., Raynor, W.C., Seasonality and yield of breadfruit cultivars in the indigenous agroforestry system of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, Trop. Agric. (Trinidad) 70 (1993) 103109.Google Scholar
Lebegin, S., Lemerre Desprez Z., Mademba-Sy F., Horticultural evaluation of five introduced and one local breadfruit cultivar in New Caledonia, Acta Hortic. 757 (2007) 8992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morton J.F., Breadfruit, in: Morton J.F. (Ed.), Fruits of warm climates, Florida Flair Books, Miami, U.S.A., 1987.
Shi, W.L., Saxena, P.K., Ragone, D., Murch, S.J., Mass-propagation and bioreactor-based technologies for germplasm conservation, evaluation and international distribution of breadfruit, Acta Hortic. 757 (2007) 169176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Häggman, M.H., Aronen, S.T., Stomp, M.A., Early flowering Scots pines through tissue culture for accelerating tree breeding, Theor. Appl. Genet. 93 (1996) 840848. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anon., Crop prospects and food situation, FAO, Rome, Italy, 2013.
Robinson, T.L., Recent advances and future directions in orchard planting systems, Acta Hortic. 732 (2007) 367381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sane, F., Guillermin, P., Mauget, J.C., Delaire, M., Effects of fruit load and intra-inflorescence competition of fruits on apple growth during fruit development, Acta Hortic. 932 (2012) 179186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lippman, Z.B., Zamir, D., Heterosis: revisiting the magic, Trends Genet. 23 (2007) 6066.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Ribou, S.D., Douam, F., Hamant, O., Frohich, M.W., Negrutiu, J., Plant science and agricultural productivity: Why are we hitting the yield ceiling, Plant Sci. 210 (2013) 159176. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts-Nkrumah, B.L., Fruit and seed yields in chataigne (Artocarpus camansi Blanco) in Trinidad and Tobago, Fruits 60 (2005) 387393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quartermain, A., Breadfruit in Papua New Guinea, Acta Hortic. 757 (2007) 109113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar