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THE FRUIT
HISTORY
OF PUERTO RICO
by Sadhu Govardhan
THE
BEGINNING
Most people assume that the Caribbean islands were always
lush tropical paradises with an abundance of genetic and biological
diversity. But let us take a closer look at the actual fruit history of the
Caribbean and Puerto Rico in particular:
The first references to fruits grown in Puerto Rico can be
found in historical accounts of Taino culture. When the Spaniards arrived
in the late 15th century, the only fruits cultivated on the island were
guava (guayaba), sugar apple (anon), ambarella (jobo), mamey, papaya and
pineapple (piña). The majority of these fruits were brought by their Arawak
predecessors from northern South America. Thus, there were hardly ever any
indigenous fruits on the island at all, and the vast majority of the
mainstream fruits consumed today (citrus, mango, avocado, banana, plantain,
breadfruit, coconut, etc.) were brought in by sea travelers throughout the
centuries.
Primarily for political reasons, there was never much emphasis placed on growing a
significant number of tropical fruit and nut species in Puerto Rico. Instead,
the farmers of Puerto Rico were forced by the Spanish conquerors to turn
away from an already very limited food crop diversity in order to help
provide other countries with addictive substances like white sugar, coffee
or tobacco. The slave-like working conditions on those plantations were
so bad at times that they often incurred strikes and uprisings. After
the tobacco and sugar cane plantations were finally terminated in
the 1930s and 1960s respectively, the agricultural void was never
filled. Farming declined by and large, and no attempts for diversified and
dynamic fruit cultivation were made.
For these reasons, Puerto Rico’s small scale farmers never
played an important economic role in its history. During the 400 years of
Spanish rule, Puerto Rico was considered unimportant as an agricultural
producer. With the advent of U.S. rule in the late 19th century,
independent agricultural production became even further marginalized.
While most tropical countries have an economically
impressive, steadily growing fruit production trend, there are less than a
dozen of fruit species produced on a large scale in Puerto Rico. Out of the approximately 10,000 existing tropical fruit species
on the planet, at least 500 of them are mainstream fruits in
tropical regions around the world. As unbelievable as it may sound, there
are still only two species of tropical nuts grown on a limited scale: almendra
(Terminalia catappa) and pajuil
(Anacardium occidentale). At the
same time, at least 30-40 potentially marketable tropical nut species could be
grown on the island.
Although two famous tropical research
stations (TARS/Mayagüez, Trujillo Alto) were established in the early 20th
century, originally intending to
promote new tropical food crops, their research focus eventually narrowed
to only a few major cash crop species (like cacao, sorghum, beans,
or bananas and plantains) and problem-solving in conventional
agriculture. Many of the original fruit strains grown were not the best
selections, and a good amount of them disappeared throughout the decades
due to hurricanes or neglect of replanting. Fortunately, some important
fruit and nut crops were preserved, and the free germplasm distributed by
the Mayagüez station helped
some of
the local and foreign collectors/farmers start their collections. I for one,
am grateful for the support and general reciprocation of the Mayagüez
station, which I still visit frequently.
THE
FRUIT EXPLOSION
The first nursery that promoted more than just a few fruit
species in Puerto Rico was Jardines Eneida in Cabo Rojo. The owner, Milton
Perez, popularized several dozen lesser known but promising species along with
common mainstream species, starting in the 1970s. Private collectors also
brought in new species and towards the end of the millennium, there were
about 150 tropical fruit and nut species grown in Puerto Rico – the
majority of species introduced by USDA/TARS.
Since 2000, there has been a virtual fruit explosion: a small number of private collectors
have brought in (legally) more tropical fruit and nut species (an
estimated additional 250 species), than were introduced and established over the past
few hundred years. The two biggest contributors in terms of new species
were Felipe Osborne and the author of this article (I popularized about 150
new species since I opened my rare fruit nursery in the early 2000s). These
new and much needed introductions (for the sake of increasing bio-diversity
and to strengthen the economical potential of fruit production) are now gradually spreading throughout the island.
In 2000, Felipe Osborne started the
bi-annual Equinox meeting for fruit enthusiasts to trade and sell lesser
common species of fruits. In 2006, Juan A. Rivero and Bryan R. Brunner
published “Arboles frutales exóticos y poco conocidos en Puerto Rico”,
which served as an introduction to new collectors and gave an overview of
what was cultivated by the year 2002 in Puerto Rico.
In 2008, El Nuevo Dia published
the most comprehensive article about tropical fruits of any mainstream media in
Puerto Rico’s history. The article, written by Aurora Rivera, was packed
with gorgeous full color fruit pictures from my farm and covered four
pages. The title was “Exótico Paraíso Frutal en el Vivero Govardhan Gardens
en Mayagüez”. The article was so attractive
and well written that many people kept it and even today - three years
later - some of my visitors bring this article with them when they
visit my nursery.
When I moved to the island in 1999/2000, there
were about 5 or 6 (private and public) fruit collections with
over 100 species, and a few dozen collections with 25-50 species. Today
(2011), there are over 100 collections with over 100 species, and at least
ten private and public collections with more than 175 species of tropical
fruits and nuts in Puerto Rico.
Other crops like flowers (heliconias, orchides), palms or bamboo
have gone through similar explosive developments. Since many of the most
important tropical fruit and nut species on the planet are already
cultivated by enthusiastic collectors around the entire island, it is safe
to say that the fruit self sufficiency of Puerto Rico’s future is
relatively secure.
THE CHALLENGES
Despite the tremendous benefits of
these new crops, there is occasionally some resistance, even to new fruit crops: some people claim
that there is potential danger with “invasive species”. When confronted
with providing sound examples, the species mentioned are usually obscure (Schinus
terebinthifolius or Solanum viarum , amongst others) and are
hardly cultivated by anyone. In reality, the potentially most invasive
fruit species have already been here for a long time: wild mango and guava.
Can they legitimately be considered a problem for the island? Certainly not.
Instead of spreading the myth of
“dangerous, invasive fruits” it would be more appropriate to compile
a list with the few tropical fruit species (not even 0.5% of all existing
tropical fruit tree species) that are either invasive or contain
potentially harmful properties.
Another occasional argument against the introduction of new
fruits and nuts is purely political, and even less reasonable: “Instead of
new fruits, we should promote only local fruits”. By the token of this poor
logic, we are not supposed to eat mangos, avocados, breadfruit or coconut
because they were all introduced from other places. If this thought would
have been present hundreds of years ago, we would only have a handful of
edible fruit species in Puerto Rico.
Instead of diversifying and increasing local
production, there is a considerable effort made to
fill the supermarkets with fruits from temperate climates: grapes, apples, pears, peach,
etc. and even to promote growing them. Although it may be
legitimate to grow some of them in higher altitudes, this doesn't seem economically
wise: there are so few areas on the island where temperate fruits
will produce well, and even then, the fruits will generally be smaller
and the quality inferior to temperate climate grown ones. However,
there are literally hundreds, or even thousands of tropical species that
could grow and fruit perfectly well in Puerto Rico or any other
tropical region.
For the purpose of making these new fruits more known, I
have written “Oro Verde – Securing the Future of our Food” in 2007. The
book describes new fruit species with high appeal. Over the time span of 12
years, I have also established the most diversified tropical fruit and nut
collection (350 species by 2011) in
the Caribbean. Every year, hundreds of visitors enjoy the tours of the
gardens.
THE
FUTURE
The introduction of these new fruit and nut varieties is not
meant to replace any of the currently existing crops on the island —
rather, they are meant as much-needed additions for the benefit of future
generations. These new crops will help the island to become more
agriculturally self-sufficient, and it will also improve the quality of our
diet.
Most fruits have a wide range of fruit quality, and
therefore one single sample usually does not accurately represent
the species. Here an example: pitanga (Eugenia
uniflora) can range from barely edible to excellent-tasting, depending
on the tree it came from.
Another issue to consider is taste acclimation: not all
fruits excite our taste buds immediately. For some, we need more time to
learn to relish them. A good example in this regard is durian: at first, we
may not be able to relate to the combination of flavors (e.g., some durian
types are described of having a flavor or “burnt almonds blended with
carrot juice”, others as “undertones of banana and grape” and yet others “a
rich, butter-like custard highly flavored with almonds, but intermingled
with wafts of flavor that call to mind cream cheese, onion sauce, brown
sherry and other incongruities. The more you eat of it, the less you feel
inclined to stop”) but in due course of time, it may well become one of our
favorite fruits.
One issue that naturally comes up with new crops is the
nomenclature. My take on this is that fruits should be called by the most
popular name in their region of origin. There is no need to bend over
backwards to find translations for every single fruit into every single
language. Also, in order to understand a fruit better in its context with
other fruits, its best to learn their botanical names – its much easier
than many would assume. The scientific or botanical names of fruits are a
global language that simplify the identification instantly.
Out of all the edible crops (grains, vegetables, herbs,
nuts, fruits), fruits and nuts are the slowest to cultivate, and they also
take up considerable space. It is
therefore advisable
for most small scale farmers to first secure their income with
vegetable and herb crops and grow fruit crops as a future source of additional
income from the farm. Most fruit crops take between 4 and 10 years before
significant yields can be seen. Although it takes a relatively long time to
see the fruits of one’s labor, fruit crops are in most cases relatively
easy to maintain and some of them are very profitable. Furthermore, it is
important that farmers provide their community with as many edible crops as
possible.
Before growing any fruit commercially, it is essential to
understand one’s microclimate and soil and to have a very clear idea of the
investment in terms of acquiring the plant material, physical and financial
maintenance of the crop area and marketing options. E.g. only a few hundred
feet of difference in elevation can make a crop like avocado or mango
either a success or a failure. Also, particular cultivars and the optimal
site may make a difference of several thousands dollars per acre. Once
these factors are thoroughly understood, one can go ahead and select the
most suitable crops based on the given conditions. In general, it is
advisable to have a commercial fruit orchard planned out by an expert.
IMPORTING
NEW SPECIES
One important issue when importing new fruit and nut seeds
is to make sure that all seeds are surface-sterilized (e.g., with a 10%
chlorox solution). Even for very small seed amounts, the USDA/APHIS
requires an import permit. It is not difficult to get the permit (online or
at the APHIS office in San Juan), and it allows to import 50 seeds of 50
different species, or if the seeds are tiny, not more than 10 grams. The
seeds must be easily inspected and should therefore be in clear packaging,
clearly labeled as to species, and free of soil or pest harboring plant
tissues.
Plants and plant material are more difficult to sterilize,
and the current regulations require additional permits (regular import
permit or post entry permit plus phytosanitary certificate – which is
generally not honored if it is issued in any country outside the U.S.).
Unfortunately, there are many reports by private people that the small lot
seed import permit is not honored by the US Customs and Border Protection
Agency or by APHIS. Many seeds are confiscated and destroyed without giving
any solid reason.
For those who are interested in acquiring seeds of new
species, it is advisable to remain updated about prohibited species – they
are only a few so far and fact sheets can be acquired at the local
Department of Agriculture. I highly recommend to stay away from hybrid
seeds of over-commercialized fruits, and instead try to either trade with
or buy from organic farmers, private collectors or public institutions with
diversified collections.
Today, many of the best tropical fruit and nut trees can by
now be found in local nurseries, which makes acquiring new species
significantly easier than even just a decade ago. My own Govardhan Gardens
nursery regularly carries around 100 different species of common and rare
tropical fruits and nuts, and people can choose from over 200 species.
© Sadhu Govardhan, 2007, 2011
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