Tamarind monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

Chapter 5. Agronomy and Production
areas
5.1 Introduction
K. El-Siddig
Tamarind is underutilised and therefore an underresearched species.
Although widely grown traditionally, there is a limited amount of literature
on its agronomic requirements. This chapter reviews the available
information on best practices for its agronomy, from propagation through
establishment to the management of trees in the field, including the
occurrence and management of the main pests and diseases. Then the
various types of production systems and areas are assessed.
5.2 Propagation
Tamarind is traditionally grown from seed, although vegetative and tissue
culture propagation methods have been developed to capture the attributes of
specific genotypes. The methods reviewed here indicate that propagation
will not be a constraint to the production of quality planting material for
those interested in establishing tamarind orchards. Neither will propagation
be a problem for those plant breeders and scientists wishing to select elite
cultivars or to breed improved ones.
5.2.1 Seed propagation
Propagation by seed is the least expensive means of propagation and can be
used to produce a large number of new plants from a minimum of stock
material. In addition, seed propagation is necessary in order to produce
seedlings to be used as rootstocks onto which selected cultivars can be
grafted. The main disadvantage of seed propagation is that seeds fail to
produce plants true to type and also resulting seedlings take a longer time to
produce productive plants than those produced through vegetative
propagation. However, a proper understanding of the processes involved in
seed germination and initial growth is an important prerequisite for the
increased domestication and cultivation of tamarind.
5.2.1.1 Germination
Tamarind produces relatively large seeds that average 11-12.5 mm in
diameter (Morton, 1987). They are flattish, shiny brown to blackish seeds,
with a hard impermeable seed coat. The fleshy cotyledons make up most of
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