HISTORY AND USE OF BREADFRUIT IN THE SEYCHELLES

Breadfruit features prominently in a national initiative to enhance national food security in the Seychelles. The 10-year Agricultural Development Strategy of the Seychelles formulated in 1992/93 included breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis, as one of the important traditional food crops to be conserved and propagated, along with more popularly cultivated crops. Well-defined strategies included government nurseries providing planting materials and mass media programmes on breadfruit cultivation and its valorisation by promoting a variety of dishes in homes and tourism establishments. The imminent launch of the Agricultural Development Strategy 2007–2011 provides further opportunities to popularise breadfruit, capitalising on the highly successful “Every Home a Garden” national campaign. Building on the previous strategy’s success, this campaign utilises mass media to reach every household with the potential to grow a breadfruit tree. The promulgation of the Cottage Industry Act spurred tremendous growth in processing breadfruit into chips making it impossible to meet current market demand due to lack of fruit. The majority of the trees are found in the wild, are tall and do not allow easy fruit harvest. However, plants grown from root cuttings bear after three years and enhance fruit supply. While seasonality of production cannot be adequately addressed using local cultivars, accelerated plant propagation and planting can increase fruit supply, further promoting a dedicated national programme.