Domestication and commercialisation of multi-purpose indigenous trees and shrubs for food and other products in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Queensland: a feasibility study with special reference to Canarium nut

FST/2002/010: Domestication and commercialisation of multi-purpose indigenous trees and shrubs for food and other products in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Queensland: a feasibility study with special reference to Canarium nut

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands

James Cook University, Australia

Professor Roger Leakey
Phone: 07 4042 1573
Fax: 07 4042 1319
Email: roger.leakey@jcu.edu.au

• National Agricultural Research Institute, Papua New Guinea
• Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Australia
• Macro Agribusiness Consultants Pty Ltd, Australia
• Michael Davis Consultants, Australia
• Commodities Export Marketing Authority, Solomon Islands

$203,606

01/07/2004 - 30/06/2005

01/07/2005 - 30/09/2005

Dr Russell Haines

The indigenous tree nut, Canarium indicum, known as Galip Nut in PNG and Ngali in Solomon Islands (SI), is an important source of human food in both countries. It is regarded as domestically important for food security, but less so as a potential cash crop. Some attempts have been made to develop, process and market the nut but these have not resulted in widespread cropping.
Domestication of indigenous fruit and nuts is relatively common in many tropical countries. Such species are important to alleviating food insecurity and addressing nutritional deficiencies in dietary intake. They also provide an income opportunity that can help stimulate improvements in livelihoods. Such approaches towards domesticating indigenous species could also work in PNG and Solomon Islands. This study used participatory approaches that had been successful elsewhere in the tropics. The potential for agroforestry of Galip/Ngali to enhance food security and to create income generating opportunities was examined.

The project sought to determine the feasibility of developing a strategy and methodology for the parallel improvement of the food/nutritional security, and income-generating opportunities of smallholder farmers through the domestication and commercialisation of indigenous fruit and nut species in PNG (East New Britain), SI and Australia. Specific objectives were to: determine the attitudes and perceptions of communities towards indigenous fruits and nuts in the household food intake and in land use in East New Britain Province (ENBP), PNG; identify the potential opportunities and constraints to domestication and commercialisation of indigenous fruit and nuts in PNG, SI and Queensland; identify the research and development issues for domestication and commercialisation of indigenous fruits and nuts, including intellectual property rights (IPR) and cultural issues; enhance the abilities of project staff to conduct community survey and interpretation; inform stakeholders and participants of the outputs and conclusions of the project.

Householder/farmer surveys were conducted at three sites, assessing attitudes and perceptions of the role of Galip in household diet and towards inclusion of Galip in land-use practices. Other surveys gathered indigenous knowledge about the cultivation, postharvest techniques and multipurpose uses of the Galip nut and other fruit and nut species. A taste analysis undertaken of Galip/Ngali kernels evaluated their sensory and nutritional qualities. As well a chemical analysis of Canarium resin was undertaken to evaluate variation in quality. The project team also addressed potential processing and packaging options, and possible processors and niche markets for PNG and SI nut species. A consumer survey identified potential opportunities for income generation by smallholder farmers, and another survey evaluated the market potential of Galip/Ngali.
Other surveys ascertained the nature of indigenous rights and interests in species, products and innovations. Community and business surveys ascertained constraints and means for protecting rights and interests.

Although there were differences in the results observed from the three locations surveyed, the findings were fairly similar - despite differences in the population pressures and market access between the locations.

Importance of Galip
The farmers in ENBP ranked Galip as the most important nut tree species for both food and income generation. Pau was ranked second, followed by Aila, Talis and Okari. Other minor nuts were important to some respondents particularly in the Pomio area. A similar trend was seen in the number of farmers growing the different nut species. There was no difference in farmer rankings of the nut species for their importance as a food source or for income generation. Without exception all those interviewed said that they liked eating Galip. The majority liked eating Galip raw but over half also liked it prepared with other foods and 40% said they liked it roasted.

Galip is a multipurpose tree, in addition to the kernels being an important source of food and cash income Galip was also important for timber (including canoe making), firewood and for traditional and medicinal uses. Just about all parts of the tree (including the trunk, bark, nut oil, resin, leaves, young shoots, kernels, fruit flesh, nut shells and roots) are used by some people.

Production
The average farming family generally had access to 5-12 Galip trees, with a few having large numbers (up to 150 trees). The farmers in the Duke of York Islands tended to have more trees than those in the Gazelle and Pomio. The majority of these trees were self plantedonly about a third said they had planted them. If farmers had planted Galip the number planted per farmer was generally less than five. The planting was done by all gender groups with a slightly higher involvement of men. There was very little movement of Galip germplasm from outside individual villages. Only one person had planted material from outside their own district and 20% said they planted materials obtained from outside their own village. The rest of the farmers said they obtained the planting materials from trees within their village.

Up to five Galip types were identified by individuals, with the majority recognising two or three types. Although a large number of local Galip names were given, there were generally two or three major ones at each location surveyed. The main distinguishing features for the different Galip types were the colour of the fruit around the nut shell, the shell colour, the ease of cracking the shell and the nut shape and size.

Most farmers said they had Galip types they preferred over otherstaste, kernel size and ease of cracking and kernel oiliness were the main reasons given for the preference. One third of the respondents said they had no problems with growing Galip. For others, lack of knowledge, land availability, irregularity of fruiting and lack of planting materials constituted the main problems.

Nearly all the farmers interviewed indicated a desire to grow more nut trees than they currently do with Galip and Pau the preferred species. The reasons given for wanting to grow more Galip was for income followed by food and then traditional ceremonies. The reasons for wanting to grow more Pau related more to the nature of the Pau, a smaller backyard tree that starts bearing at a young age and has a non seasonal production.

Seasonality
Although the data were not very clear it appears that the fruiting period may vary in different locations of ENBP. This would be an advantage for improving continuity of supply if correct. Further work is requiredto accurately determine the fruiting patterns of Galip in the different locations and establish the factors affecting the timing of the main production periods.

Post-harvest
The Galip is generally harvested equally by all gender groups. The main method of harvesting is to collect fallen nuts from the ground, however climbing the trees to harvest and cutting the fruit-bearing branches down are also important methods, particularly in Pomio. The maturity of the fruit is determined by the skin colour change from green to dark purple or black (or dark maroon in some cultivars) or when they start to fall from the tree. The main problems farmers had with harvesting the Galip nuts was trees that were too big and dangerous to climb to harvest the fruit, stealing, and the fruit being eaten by animals (flying foxes and pigs).

The methods of removing the fruit flesh from the shell were to let it rot off under the tree before collecting the nuts, letting it rot off collected nuts then wash them in water, gently hitting the flesh off with a stone or cutting the fresh fruit and removing the kernel. All respondents said they remove the kernel from the shell manually. Most of them use stones to break the shell while some used bush knives. The main problems encountered when removing the kernel from the shell was injuries to the operators hands. It was also very time consuming and some nuts were hard to crack and some kernels get damaged. Although the survey found all gender groups involved in extracting the kernels, it was more likely for women to do so as they are the ones who market the kernels.

Over half of the respondents had Galip cultivars that were easier to crack ('soft-shell' types) and most said they preferred soft-shelled cultivars. The majority of farmers store Galip nuts for a year or more; kernels are stored dried nut in shell, drying is done in baskets over a fire place or spread out in the sun. Few farmers reported problems associated with storing nuts but some had fungal or insect problems. Food security, out-of-season use and cultural ceremonies were the main reason given for storing the nuts.

Nut quality
Qualities that the respondents thought were important in determining good Galip nuts were big kernels, good taste, easy to crack shells and oily kernels. There was either a preference for nuts with only one kernel or the respondents were not concerned with how many kernels there were in the nut.

Marketing
Galip is very important as a source of cash, with 86% of the farmers selling some Galip. Women were the main gender group involved with the marketing of Galip, they were also assisted by the girls. Galip was sold as kernel for the fresh nut market, or as nut in shell if it was to be stored, or occasionally as whole fruit. More was sold as nut in shell or whole fruit in the Duke of York and Pomio than the Gazelle. There was very little grading or quality selection of the nuts prior to selling them in the markets, only a few graded by kernel size, shape or colour. All nuts were sold to the general public; there was no wholesaling or involvement of middlemen. The nuts were sold in central and road side markets if available (only in the Gazelle) or village markets. The pricing of the Galip depended to some degree on the supply and demand and on what others were selling at the time. In general it was higher in the Gazelle (K2.00 for 10-50 kernels) and lower in Pomio (20-50 toea for up to 100 kernels).

Due to the difficulty in obtaining economic information from the farmers and the reliability of the information gathered it is difficult to estimate how much farmers make from Galip. Results indicate that farming families make a about K40.00 per year from selling Galip and in some cases can be much higherestimated to be K375.00 in one case. The money obtained from selling Galip generally was used for normal household expenses. Most farmers said they currently sell all the Galip they market and that they could sell more Galip if they had it, despite this the lack of buyers and the market competition were mentioned as problems by some respondents.

Tree improvement
The main improvements farmers said they would like to see in Galip is a reduction in tree size followed by increased yield, increased nut size, reduced seasonality, improved regularity of fruiting, better tree shape and improved ease of cracking the shell. Virtually all the farmers interviewed said they would like to plant Galip clones if they were available. The farmers in general said they wanted to plant large numbers of trees with 39% of them wanting to plant 50 or more trees. The main reasons given for wanting to plant more Galip trees was for additional income and family consumption.