Peach palm - World Agroforestry Centre
Peach palm - World Agroforestry Centre
Peach palm - World Agroforestry Centre
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Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 20. 43<br />
found 63% survival after 70 days. Survival in the field can be improved to 90% by<br />
careful attention to details (R. Chumbimune, unpublished data): select plants with<br />
vigorous offshoots 30-60 cm tall; dissect the root mass with offshoots 2-3 months<br />
after harvesting the heart-of-<strong>palm</strong>; isolate and mound up soil around offshoots;<br />
allow 2 months for the root-mass sections to recuperate before transplanting to the<br />
field; and carry out all steps during the rainy season. Mora-Urpí (unpublished data)<br />
follows a modification of the methods described: selecting the entire cluster of<br />
mature heart-of-<strong>palm</strong> carrying large offshoots (each over 50 cm high), and taking<br />
along most of their well-developed root systems when transplanting. This method<br />
has been successfully used to fill empty spaces in commercial <strong>palm</strong> plantations. This<br />
method is not practical when dealing with full-grown fruit-producing trees because<br />
of the large size, hard wood and long roots of the cluster.<br />
More research on vegetative propagation of offshoots is required. Improving<br />
survival of rooted offshoots is clearly needed. In addition, the limited number of<br />
offshoots per plant (1-4 per year) does not allow rapid multiplication of selected<br />
germplasm (Blaak 1980). Simple methods to stimulate offshoot development are<br />
being investigated (H. Jaenicke, J.C. Weber and C. Sotelo-Montes, unpublished<br />
data).<br />
Tissue culture would be the most efficient means for mass propagation of<br />
selected peach <strong>palm</strong>s. After more than 15 years of research, a commercial method<br />
has finally been developed. Historically, attempts to culture various tissues did<br />
produce some plants (Pinedo-Panduro 1987), but often with unreproducible<br />
results (Arias and Huete 1983; Arias 1985; Valverde and Arias 1986; Pinedo-<br />
Panduro 1987; Valverde et al. 1987; Stein 1988; Fisse 1990; Pinedo-Panduro and<br />
Díaz-Jamara 1993; Almeida 1994). Pinedo-Panduro (1987) tried direct<br />
organogenesis from cultured stem apices and was able to develop some<br />
vegetative shoots from meristematic buds. Almeida (1994) improved this<br />
method. No somaclonal variation is expected with this procedure since it<br />
involves direct development from meristematic axillary buds.<br />
The University of Costa Rica has now developed a repeatable tissue culture<br />
procedure for commercial application (L. Gómez and R. Vargas, unpublished data).<br />
The greatest commercial limitation was production time: more than 2 years were<br />
necessary to develop a rooted plant from the explant stage, and another year was<br />
necessary for acclimatization and growth in the nursery. Now these problems have<br />
been overcome and multiplication is possible. With an efficient tissue culture<br />
method the screening of selected genotypes is underway; this is necessary because<br />
not all genotypes are equally easy to propagate. Now clonal variety trials under<br />
different ecological conditions can be carried out.<br />
Some individuals may produce apomictic seeds coming from fruits that appear<br />
parthenocarpic (smaller, later maturing within a bunch) (J. Mora-Urpí, pers.<br />
observ.), but genetic evidence of apomixis in peach <strong>palm</strong> has not been demonstrated<br />
(e.g. mother plant and progeny with identical isozyme or DNA fingerprints). In<br />
addition, fruits appear parthenocarpic (smaller, later maturing than normal fruits)<br />
but they contain seeds with a fully developed embryo.