TROPICAL FRUIT SPECIES IN ASIA: DIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION STRATEGIES

The work on conservation and utilization of genetic resources of tropical fruit species is increasing, as the countries in the region are becoming more aware of the importance and potential of native tropical fruit species as unexploited sources of income and employment, particularly for women, and also as good sources of improved nutrition. Priority species as well as further research needs have been identified based on the information available on inter and intra-specific diversity and the needs of countries in the region. Considerable advances are being made in documenting information on tropical fruit species in several countries. However, there are still several gaps in some areas that need attention, since the focus so far has been on production of a few species and genotypes. A large amount of genetic diversity still remains undocumented and under-used. Information on the distribution, ecology and intraspecific variation of most tropical fruit species is inadequate. Nevertheless, knowledge of the taxonomically useful characters is steadily growing. Molecular characterization is now being carried out to understand the extent and distribution of genetic diversity in some key fruit species. This is only the beginning and concerted efforts and improved methods are urgently required to characterize the priority species. Conservation of perennial species, with seeds that are mostly recalcitrant, is difficult and most tropical fruit species present this constraint. In situ methods (conservation in reserves, orchards and home gardens) and ex situ conservation techniques (field genebanks, in vitro conservation and cryopreservation) for conserving the genetic resources of tropical fruit species are either under development or being refined. Information on conservation techniques and methodologies as well as reproductive biology will be necessary to formulate appropriate conservation strategies, which are expected to be different for the different groups of species. Improved morphological data, along with information on the genetic diversity in tropical fruit species, is expected to assist in developing more efficient and effective complementary conservation strategies as well as ways to efficiently utilize the available genetic diversity of these important resources.