Vasudeva R
Department of Forest Biology and Tree Improvement, College of Forestry, Sirsi-581401, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580005, Karnataka, India
Bhuwon Sthapit
Bioversity International, Bioversity-Nepal Office, 93.4 Dharahara, Pokhara, Nepal
I Salma
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Persiaran MARDI-UPM, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Suchitra Changtragoon
Forest & Plant Conservation Research Office, Department of National Park Wildlife & Plant Conservation, 10900 Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand
Idha W Arsanti
Indonesian Centre for Horticulture, Research and Development, Jalan Ragunan 19, Pasar Minggu-12520, Jakarta, Indonesia
D Gerten
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, No. 95, Lot 7316, Medan Sentral Commercial Centre, Kidurong Road, 97000 Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia
Nataya Dum-ampai
Chiangmai Royal Agricultural Research Centre, Hangdong District 50230, Chiangmai, Thailand
S Rajan
ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Rehmankhera, Lucknow-227107, Uttar Pradesh, India
MR Dinesh
ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hesaraghatta Lake Post, Bengaluru-560089, Karnataka, India
IP Singh
ICAR-National Research Centre for Citrus, Nagpur-440010, Maharashtra, India.
Sanjay Kumar Singh
ICAR-National Research Centre for Litchi, Muzaffarpur-842002, Bihar, India
BMC Reddy
ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru-560089, Karnataka, India
VA Parthasarathy
ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru-560089, Karnataka, India
V Ramanatha Rao
Bioversity International, Rome, Italy
Abstract
Native communities of South and South East Asia, a centre of diversity of tropical fruit trees (TFT), share a
common cultural heritage associated with tropical fruits. Unfortunately, there is a dramatic loss of traditional
knowledge associated with TFTs. This comparative study was undertaken in 24 village communities spread across
India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand using structured questionnaires and multiple approaches to document
use-value of TFTs. Considering only four focal genera of TFT species viz., Mangifera, Garcinia, Citrus and
Nephelium, an amazing diversity of 56 species was reported to be utilized by the communities. Ranking of species
based on the number of use-categories and based on the cultural importance value showed differences. Mangifera
indica, Citrus aurantifolia and C. reticulata were the three extensively used TFTs as food and for processing. As
revealed by Jaccards' index, three South East Asian countries showed a higher similarity among themselves than
India. M. indica, M. pajang, M. foetida, G. morella, G. atroviridis, G. mangostana, C. hystrix, C. aurantifolia
and C. grandis were culturally the most significant TFTs and hence may be conserved with high priority.
