Notes on importance and prospects of rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L): A lesser-known fruit crop in Ghana

English

Rambutan is an important but lesser-known fruit crop in Ghana. It is a major foreign exchange earner for some countries in South-east Asia. The leaves, fruit, rind, kernel, trunk, and roots are important in food and nutrition, medicine, industry or combination of these. Imbalances in sex ratio, recalcitrance of seeds, long gestation period, high death rates and loss of vigour of transplants, and pests and diseases are some major limiting factors to rambutan production. Stem cuttings are also difficult-to-root. Currently, layering is the recommended method of vegetative propagation. Recent studies on rapid and easy multiplication techniques using biotechnology are yielding results that could be adopted in future. The humid, tropical rainforest climate in some regions in Ghana would be suitable for rambutan production. The available rambutan germplasm in the two research stations at Bunso and Kade should, therefore, facilitate its initial introduction into the local farming systems. Commercial production and processing of rambutan into various products would further diversify the non-traditional export base of horticultural crops. It would also have the advantage of protecting the environment, especially in peri-urban and urban areas,

Abbey, L.