Rare crops get new lease of life |22 April 2014

A two-year project started last year to save old and rare local food crops and other plants from possible extinction has been described as successful.

The project has now entered its last phase which is distributing and propagating as much as possible the different varieties of plants which have been collected and bred over the past year.

The project, initiated by the Val D’Andorre Farmers’ Association and supported by the Ministry of Natural Resources, has received funding under the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Small Grant Programme (GEF UNDP/SGP).

The first phase comprised establishing an inventory list of all the old and rare plants, train farmers and other interested parties on how to research on these crops, build a nursery and engage farmers in gathering, planting for propagating these rare food crops.

The second phase entails selling and propagating these rare plants.

The project coordinator, senior agricultural extension officer Jose Guerrero, said they started distributing these crops for propagation in October last year during a Manze Kreol Dan Leo promotion activity to coincide with World Food Day.

“After distributing the plant saplings to Val D’Andorre farmers and other interested individuals in that community, it was the turn for members of the public who took part in last year’s Manze Kreol Dan Leo to have a chance to obtain one or more of these rare plants species,” Mr Guerrero said.

He noted that the success of the project was shared recently with a plant conservation expert from Comesa secretariat, Lerotholi Qhobela, who was here on a mission at the end of last month.

The visit was part of a project to assess the needs of member countries for forthcoming financial help in such areas as plant conservation among other related projects.

“The timing of the visit was opportune as the funding for the present project nears its end and we need to look at ways to make it viable and sustainable,” Mr Guerrero pointed out.

He noted that while on his week-long fact-finding mission, Mr Qhobela visited farmers who are already propagating the rare food crops and was apprised of the different challenges they are facing in their effort to breed and propagate the crops, among other issues.

With regard to the success of the propagation of the different plants, Mr Guerrero said a farmer from Grand Anse Mahé, with help from a German expert in the field, has started a small venture where he is extracting patchouli oil and bottling it for commercial use.

The farmer in question has brought in some required equipment and he has at present over a dozen patchouli plants and is looking to buy more for his expanding venture, Mr Guerrero explained.

The project, expected to come to its term by the end of the year, has been described as a success B even though Mr Guerrero has admitted that there are still some rare crops whose samples still remain to be found.

“But we are very happy with what we have achieved. We invested a lot of effort and energy researching and gathering the plant samples, documenting them all and rekindling public interest in them and their numerous virtues,” Mr Guerrero noted.

He said so far they have distributed the different varieties of plants to various places like the Jardin Du Roi, the Montagne Posée prison, the arboretum and Biodiversity Centre at Barbarons, among others.

He noted that the most popular of the rare plants so far have been patchouli whose perfume is still very much appreciated.

He pointed out that apart from extracting its oil, dry patchouli leaves can simply be placed in the house such as bathrooms, bedrooms where its wonderful scent can be very much appreciated.

The accompanying photographs show the distribution of the plants at various locations on Mahé.