BASELINE REPORT Malaysia
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BASELINE REPORT Malaysia for the UNEP-GEF Project entitled; “Conservation and sustainable use of cultivated and wild tropical fruit diversity: promoting sustainable livelihoods, food security and ecosystem services” February 2013 Mohd Syauqi, N., Salma, I., Yusuf, T., Zahimi, H., Shariah, U., Brooke, P., Wong, W.W.W., Lamers, H.A.H. 1 Citation: Mohd Syauqi, N., Salma, I., Yusuf, T., Zahimi, H., Shariah, U., Brooke, P., Wong, W.W.W., Lamers, H.A.H. (2013) Baseline Report Malaysia for the UNEP-GEF Project entitled: conservation and sustainable use of cultivated and wild tropical fruit diversity: promoting sustainable livelihoods, food security and ecosystem services Copyright 2013 MARDI Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Malaysia Bioversity International 2 Acknowledgement This baseline report is a joint endeavour of Bioversity International together with Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Department of Agriculture Malaysia (DOA Malaysia), Department of Agriculture Sarawak (DOA Sarawak) and Department of Agriculture Sabah (DOA Sabah). The following staff contributed in designing the impact framework, formulating impact indicators and research questions, developing the group exercises and baseline questionnaire, conducting the focus group discussions and interviews, data entry, data cleaning, data analysis and writing the final report National level (MARDI): Salma Idris, Raziah Mat Lin, Mohd Syauqi Nazmi, Hugo Lamers, Adam Haris Gerten, Khadijah Awang, Maya Izar Khaidizar, Azuan Amron, Mohd Norfaizal Ghazali, Muhammad Shafie Md Sah, Abdul Latif Zabidi. Peninsular Malaysia team (DOA Malaysia) : A Rahman Ismail, Ibrahim Saleh Abd Rahim Bechi, Fazlisyam Md Isa, Zahimi Hassan, Norhayati Md Harun, Yusof Talib, Shukor Abdullah,,Mohd Nizam Abdullah, Ramli Mansor Sarawak team (DOA Sarawak): Lai Kui Fong, Lau Cheng Yuon, Shariah Umar, Pearlycia Brooke, Tedwin Beti, Rateng Girid, Termize Alui, Majehin Manan, Adeline Cheria Ajan, Sabah team (DOA Sarawak): William Wong Wai Wah, Stephen Joseph Lim, Jamaludin Lani, Muneh Sikin, Lindah Jousim We thank UNEP/GEF and the Malaysian Government for making the funds available to accomplish this work. Foremost we would like to thanks all the farm household members, over 300 men and women that have dedicated their valuable time to provide us with their knowledge and information regarding their fruit trees, livelihoods and farm management system. Without their time, help and collaboration this baseline study would not have been possible. 3 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 TFTGR Project The baseline survey was conducted as part of the impact assessment of the GEF funded project ‘ Conservation and sustainable use of cultivated and wild tropical fruit diversity: promoting sustainable livelihoods, food security and ecosystem services’. This 5 year and approximately 10.4 million dollar project to understand, assess, improve and promote community-based on-farm and In-situ conservation strategies, started in January 2009 to be completed by the end of December 2013. The project, known as the Tropical Fruit Tree Genetic Resources (TFTGR) project in short, is implemented in four countries, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. All funds and activities are coordinated through UNEP and implemented by Diversity International in direct collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in India, the Indonesian Centre for Horticulture Research and Development (ICHORD) in Indonesia, the Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI) in Malaysia and the Department of Agriculture (DOA) in Thailand. 1.2 General project objectives and focus area The objective of the project is the conservation of tropic fruit tree genetic resources In-situ and on-farm through strengthened capacity of farming households, collectors, local communities and institutions to sustainably apply good practices and secure benefits. The expected project outcomes are: • tropical fruit tree diversity is conserved in situ and on farm through improved knowledge of its value, use and sustainable management practices; • rural communities benefit by using methodologies and gender-sensitive good practices for the management and conservation of tropical fruit tree species and intra-specific diversity; and • stakeholders have the capacity and the leadership skills to apply good practices for managing tropical fruit tree diversity for sustainable livelihoods, food security and ecosystem health. 4 The project seeks to provide an effective long-term basis for maintaining the genetic diversity and associated ecosystem functions of both the cultivated and wild varieties of tropical fruit tree genetic resources. It also attempts to establish a scientific and practical foundation for mainstreaming and promoting TFT diversity that generates benefits for communities. In this context, on-farm conservation is increasingly being adopted by both government and non-government sectors to overcome the genetic erosion in developing countries and its consequences on livelihood of local communities (Paudel 2008). On-farm and in-situ conservation of cultivated crops and their wild relatives is increasingly recognised as a complementary strategy for ex-situ conservation. On-farm and in-situ approaches ensure a) securing the evolutionary process of creating diversity through natural and human selection, b) securing interactions with natural biodiversity and ecosystems and c) preserving and continuously adapts the indigenous and traditional knowledge connected to plants d) providing recognition for farmers as breeders e) often increasing resilience by providing solutions for adverse or localized environmental and climatic conditions. 1.3 Introduction of target species The project will focus on four commercially important tropical fruit species with high diversity levels in the region, both at intra-specific level as well as at species level: namely citrus ( Citrus spp.), mango ( Mangifera spp.), mangosteen ( Garcinia spp.), and rambutan ( Nephelium spp.) as well as their wild relatives. Malaysia is located in the centres of diversity of these species. The genus Mangifera comprises about 40 species, of which about 26 species have edible fruits, either eaten as fresh or used to prepare jams, jellies or preserves. Mango is the most cultivated and known species ( Mangifera indica ) which does well in sub-tropical conditions with cool and/or dry season to flower and fruit. The Indo-Myanmar border region is considered the historical origin area for mango. Lesser known Mangifera species such as M. foetida, M. odorata and M. casturi thrive in the humid tropics with the highest species diversity found in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Kalimantan. The cultivated species of the genus Citrus are native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Southeast Asia while wild relatives occur from Northeastern India and southern China to northern Australia. Although Citrus taxonomy is still confusing, the most commonly used taxonomic scheme (Swingle’s) identifies 16 species; the other proposed subdivisions of the genus recognize from one up to 162 species. Some of the commercialized citrus species well-known across the region are Citrus maxima (pommelo), C. reticulata (mandarins), C. hystrix (kaffir 5 lime), C. madurensis (sweet lime), C. aurantifolia (lime) and C. sinensis (sweet orange). The genus Nephelium comprises approximately 22 species, centered in Peninsular Malaysia but also reported to occur in Burma, Thailand, Indochina, Borneo, the Philippines and Indonesia. Of the 22 species reported most occur in Peninsular Malaysia (13) and Kalimantan (16). The major commercial species is N. lappaceum (rambutan), which is widely cultivated throughout Southeast Asia. Other semi-wild species such as Nephelium hypoleucum (korlan), N. ramboutan- ake (pulasan) and N. xerospermoides (hairless rambutan) have importance mostly as home consumed fruit crops. The genus Garcinia is composed of about 150 species. Cultivation of G. mangostana (mangosteen), the most commercially important species of this genus, is limited to the humid tropics in Southeast Asia; from Indonesia, New Guinea, the Philippines and Peninsular Malaysia into the southern parts of Thailand, Burma and Vietnam. Mangosteen ranks among the antioxidant-rich fruits that have attracted increasing interest from industry and consumers globally. Other species such as Garcinia atroviridis (asam gelugur in Indonesia and Malaysia), G. indica (India) and G. gummigatta (India) gained some importance as fruit crops and are often used as spice ingredient or for medicinal purposes. Recently Garcinia indica excited the scientific world for possessing properties that regulate obesity (Yamaguchi F 2000). Project interventions in Malaysia will focus on Mangifera diversity in Yan (Peninsular), Kota Belud, Papar (Sabah) and Sibuti (Sarawak) sites, on Garcinia diversity in Yan, Bukit Gantang (Peninsular) and Papar (Sabah) sites and on Nephelium diversity in Serian (Sarawak) site. 1.4 Site selection methodology and results On-farm conservation efforts should only be pursued in those areas where the diversity is still there, so-called origin areas or agricultural biodiversity hotspots. Traditionally, tropical fruits are managed in a variety of production systems such as in natural forests, buffer zones, home gardens and semi-commercial or commercial orchards. Study sites were selected to represent this wide range of agro-ecosystems. A two-stage approach was applied to select