The potential use of the pejibaye palm in agroforestry systems

The pejibaye's potential for the small holder, especially in an agroforestry environment, is summarized: the fruit can be a significant addition to the family diet and income, both directly and as animal feed; on farm processing of the fruit for baking and other culinary uses has great potential and excedents can be marketed; small scale palmito production can also play an important part in the diet and farm income; oil production may be interesting after improved varieties are developed. The pejibaye's ecological requirements and limitations, its agronomic requirements and practices for small-scale production and its role in agroforestry systems are discussed. A list of Latin American researchers and germplasm contacts is given. © 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers