Tamarind monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future
Tamarind monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future
Tamarind monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future
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� Most of <strong>the</strong> exports are from only a few of <strong>the</strong> major producing<br />
countries and are limited to fresh fruits, pulp, seed kernel powder and<br />
paste, of which <strong>the</strong> pulp and seed kernel powder is used <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
manufacture of drugs, industrial applications, and culinary purposes. Its<br />
industrial potential is not fully exploited.<br />
� <strong>Tamarind</strong> is often considered to be an ethnic food. In importing<br />
countries it is used by Asian consumers with little evidence of crossing<br />
over to o<strong>the</strong>r ethnic groups.<br />
� Lack of both local and international market in<strong>for</strong>mation restricts<br />
expansion of crop and product diversification.<br />
If <strong>the</strong> production were improved and international markets created <strong>for</strong> fresh<br />
and processed products, <strong>the</strong>n production could be increased to make it more<br />
attractive and profitable.<br />
10.5.1 Domestic marketing<br />
<strong>Tamarind</strong> is a delicacy in <strong>the</strong> producing countries and is used widely <strong>for</strong><br />
various culinary purposes. It is consumed in fresh, dried and o<strong>the</strong>r processed<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms. The ripe pods are collected from trees grown in <strong>the</strong> wild or in home<br />
gardens; <strong>the</strong>y are processed in households and sold in <strong>the</strong> village fairs.<br />
Intermediaries collect <strong>the</strong> products from farmers and sell <strong>the</strong>m to retailers or<br />
processors. The collectors receive low prices, hence much produce is not<br />
harvested even when <strong>the</strong>re is increasing demand in towns and cities.<br />
Establishment of small-scale plantations would be more attractive to both<br />
collectors and buyers (see Plate 17).<br />
Commercialisation is constrained because <strong>the</strong>re is widespread scattered<br />
planting of trees and <strong>the</strong> fruit quality may be poor. Even in Thailand, where<br />
small-scale commercialisation has begun, fruits from household plantings<br />
have been competing with commercial production. There are no established<br />
fair-price marketing mechanisms <strong>for</strong> tamarind in any of <strong>the</strong> major producing<br />
countries, <strong>the</strong> only exception being <strong>the</strong> fruits produced <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> fresh fruit<br />
market by farmers in Thailand.<br />
In Indonesia, <strong>the</strong> Philippines and Thailand, in South Asia, and in some<br />
African and Central American countries, <strong>the</strong> major products sold in <strong>the</strong> local<br />
markets are juice, chutney, sauce, paste, fresh fruits and pulp. In <strong>the</strong><br />
Philippines fresh fruits are harvested, placed in baskets or kaings or tied into<br />
bundles and sold in rural and urban markets by volume or weight (Coronel,<br />
1986). The price <strong>for</strong> a kilogram is about P 15. In Thailand fruits are also<br />
sold fresh, with sweet varieties (B 37/kg, US$ 0.95/kg) earning more than<br />
double <strong>the</strong> price of <strong>the</strong> sour varieties (B 8.66/kg). The fresh fruits of <strong>the</strong><br />
sweet tamarind cultivars are sold by weight <strong>for</strong> direct consumption. In India,<br />
processed tamarind products are sold in rural markets and in supermarkets in<br />
cities. The major products sold locally are tamarind pulp powder, paste,<br />
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