Date palm cultivation in Chile and Peru (South America): current statusand future prospects for development.

摘要

This paper describes the current situation and prospects for the development of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) cultivation in Chile and Peru. These two countries are situated on the western coast of South America on the Pacific Ocean, and both are desert areas with a climate suitable for date fruit production. Local cultivars of dates have been derived from seeds in Peru and Chile, and developed along the length of the 2300-km coastal strip and up to an elevation of 1500 m. These date seedlings currently represent an unstudied natural germplasm bank that has adapted over the course of 400 years in geographic isolation, and in the absence of date pests and diseases. They have developed within an environment of lower summer temperatures, accumulation of thermal units, and higher relative humidity compared to the desert areas of North Africa and the Middle East, and are adaptive to optimum conditions of luminosity, active photosynthesis, and absence of rainfall and frost. As a result of these conditions, diverse date genotypes were developed, some of which produce large fruits of high quality. Flowering occurs between August and October, and harvestable fruits are produced from March to August, with variation according to elevation and specific local conditions. Commercial date production is minimal and inferior in terms of technology, with minimal development of processing techniques. Some date palms are grown for ornamental purposes. Date fruits are almost unknown outside the production zones and date consumption does not exceed 2 g per person every year.