Tamarind monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

on culture and utilisation is also unavailable, except the traditional
knowledge that exists in regard to its use in cooking and as herbal medicine.
In addition to the countries mentioned above, there are some other countries
for which little or no information exists on their tamarind production and
acreage. The major and minor producing countries are shown in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1 Major and minor tamarind producing countries
(- indicates figures unavailable, no production data available for minor areas)
Major areas Production (tons)
and year
76
Minor areas
Brazil - Bahamas
Costa Rica 221 (1997) Bangladesh
Cuba - Burma
Egypt - Cambodia
Guatemala - Dominican
Republic
India 250,000 (1964) Fiji
Indonesia - Gambia
Mexico 37 (annually) Kenya
Nicaragua - Pakistan
Puerto Rico 23 (1977) Senegal
Philippines - Tanzania
Sri Lanka - Vietnam
Thailand 140,000 (1995) Zambia
Venezuela - Zanzibar
The wide variety of uses for tamarind in many of the countries has not been
exploited, although in the future the area and extent of production are likely
to increase as tamarind assumes greater recognition and importance.
5.5.2 Potential production areas
There exists a considerable land area where tamarind growing could be
expanded in its native range, but due to low priority allocation, many
countries have not identified areas that could be used for expansion (Nyadoi,
2004). Potential production areas for tamarind depend on the demand for
tamarind products. Areas may range from scattered trees for personal use by
producers to plantations for market production. The initial spread of
plantations is likely to occur around the current production centres where
technology, skill and marketing channels are already in place. Application of
standards for products could increase competition. Cultivation is likely to
spread to arid and semi-arid areas, resource-poor areas and wastelands where
other crops cannot grow, because such land usage is receiving increased
attention.