Tamarind monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

It is thought to have been introduced to South and Southeast Asia a very
long time ago (Brenan, 1967; NAS, 1979) and it naturalised in many areas
where it was introduced (Simmonds, 1984; Purseglove, 1987; Coronel,
1991).
1.6 Geographical Distribution
The geographical distribution of tamarind has been documented by Salim et
al. (1998) as follows:
Native: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Cape Verde.
Exotic: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia,
China, Colombia, Côte d’ Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ghana,
Greater and Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran,
Jamaica, Laos, Liberia, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico, Myanmar, Nicaragua,
Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Trinidad, Tobago, Togo, United States of America, Vietnam, Zambia.
1.6.1 Africa
Tamarind occurs widely throughout tropical Africa, where it is frequently
planted as a shade tree (Storrs, 1995). It is commonly found in woodlands,
and is well adapted to the arid and semi-arid zones (Watt, 1893; Purseglove,
1987; Coronel, 1991; Albrecht, 1993, quoted by Hong et al., 1996). It is well
known in Senegal whose capital city Dakar is named after the tree. The local
name is ‘dakhar’ (NAS, 1979). In Kenya, tamarind is naturalised and
cultivated in the coastal districts and is considered to be equal in importance
in the local markets to cashew and mango. It is an attractive shade and
ornamental tree and forms a meeting place for people in the villages (Vogt,
1995). Tamarind is also found on the island of Zanzibar where it occurs on
homestead plantations. The tree grows abundantly in Madagascar and can be
found in various localities such as Kilelo, Kily, Madiro, Voamatory and
Medilo. As noted by Cabanis et al. (1969) many botanists believed that the
species was introduced to Madagascar, however, Perrier de la Bâthie (1936)
considered it to be native and from here spread to Asia (Von Mueller, 1881;
Von Maydell, 1986).
1.6.2 Asia
Tamarind is now widely spread throughout semi-arid South and Southeast
Asia (Gamble, 1922; Chaturvedi, 1985). It is presently cultivated in home
gardens, farmlands, on roadsides, on common lands and on a limited
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