Author Topic: " Largest collection of Citrus fruit trees in the World" Arboretum PapuaKeikaha?  (Read 690 times)

Bush2Beach

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How can this statement be true? The largest collection of Citrus fruit tree's in the world are at an Arboretum on Ua Huka Island , Population 674 , in  the Marquesas Islands? Hmmmmm


https://tahititourisme.pf/en-pf/islands-and-archipelagos/marquesas-islands/ua-huka/

pagnr

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How can this statement be true? The largest collection of Citrus fruit tree's in the world are at an Arboretum on Ua Huka Island , Population 674 , in  the Marquesas Islands? Hmmmmm


https://tahititourisme.pf/en-pf/islands-and-archipelagos/marquesas-islands/ua-huka/


Maybe the 674 people each all have a different Citrus tree ??

pagnr

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It would certainly be interesting to get the Arboretum list, and which organisation it disconnected with ( or private collection ).
https://tahititourisme.pf/en-pf/activities/points-of-interest/arboretum-papua-keikaha-ua-huka-en-en-pf-3438682/

quote
A tree nursery with different varieties of fruit and forestry trees and a genetic resources conservatory of citrus fruits, including a hundred or so species from Corsica.

Maybe it is part of the Citrus research based in Corsica ?

Ilya11

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INRA collection in Corsica has approximately 800 different citrus varieties.
Best regards,
                       Ilya

pagnr

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One of the Australian collections has about 10 different distinct Pummelo varieties, and well over a hundred Orange varieties.
In the Oranges, a good number are Navel Orange varieties ( Late Navels, Limb sports etc ) and a lot are Valencia selections.
In a way " more of the same ".
That leaves less than 50 % unique Orange varieties in the collection.
It would possible to have a very diverse Citrus collection, with lower numbers in the collection.
Or a very large collection with less unique / diverse varieties.
I am sure that many members on this forum have highly diverse and unique Citrus collections, with some varieties not widely known or represented elsewhere.

W.

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If Southern California and Florida have shown us anything, it is that large numbers of people tend not to equal large numbers of citrus. It tends to equal tract housing, fast food restaurants, and many, many parking lots.

So yes, I do believe that a remote, sparsely populated island in the South Pacific could potentially have the world's largest citrus collection. Ua Huka could be like New Zealand. In New Zealand, sheep outnumber people. On Ua Huka, citrus varieties could outnumber people. Remember, all it takes is one person, a small group of people, or an organization and a large enough tract of land to create an outstanding fruit collection. Add in a naturally disease-free location and time for the collection to accrue plants and mature, and you can have a very spectacular collection.

In Ua Huka's case, you have Léon Litchlé, Mayor of Ua Huka and Marquesan Minister for Agriculture, who founded the arboretum. Later, the French organization CIRAD and specifically citrus expert Alain Sizaret would take part in the development of Arboretum Papua Keikaha's citrus collection. The arboretum sits on 17 hectares (42 acres), and the citrus collection was allocated 2.5 hectares (a little over 6 acres) in 1995. The arboretum has had nearly thirty years to accumulate citrus varieties, with help from INRA. There is no greening in the Marquesas Islands to kill off the collection, either.

Now, does Arboretum Papua Keikaha definitively have the largest citrus variety collection in the world, larger than the INRA-CIRAD Citrus Germplasm Collection in San Giuliano, Corsica or the UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection. Possibly, but likely not. Despite what Tahiti Tourisme states on their website, Arboretum Papua Keikaha does not claim to have the world's largest citrus collection in their 2010 guidebook and "only" claims to have several hundred varieties. INRA and UCR both claim to have around 1,100 varieties. In INRA's case, it claims "more than" 1,100 varieties, and in UCR's case, "nearly" 1,100 varieties.

However, what Arboretum Papua Keikaha may rightly be able to claim is the largest citrus collection in the world that is open to the public. Unless I am mistaken, INRA and UCR are not open to the public, since they are research institutions that do not want people potentially exposing their collections to plant pathogens. Plus, they don't have the staff to deal with many visitors; the staff they have are very busy doing research and trying to keep their collections disease-free.

Either way, whether this arboretum is the largest citrus collection in the world or "just" a very large citrus collection, if I ever find myself adrift at sea in French Polynesia, I now know what island to set sail towards.

Bush2Beach

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Great post W.
I was joyful to read that the fruits from this Arboretum feed the local school children.
The amount of locked off USDA stations and arboretum’s that would honestly prefer for the fruit to drop and rot than you pick it and eat it  ( in some cases you are not allowed to pick up grounders!), or have it go to feed people who need food is …….

pagnr

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Thanks W. that is interesting information. Any more info about what is in the collection ?

W.

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The arboretum's 2010 guidebook, Guide floristique: Arboretum & plantations forestières de Ua Huka by Jean-François Butaud, is available online at ResearchGate. Here is the link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283568989_Guide_floristique_-_Arboretum_plantations_forestieres_de_Ua_Huka. The text is entirely in French, but you can always use Google translate, as I did.

cassowary

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Great post W.
I was joyful to read that the fruits from this Arboretum feed the local school children.
The amount of locked off USDA stations and arboretum’s that would honestly prefer for the fruit to drop and rot than you pick it and eat it  ( in some cases you are not allowed to pick up grounders!), or have it go to feed people who need food is …….

Wow feeding it to children sounds great! Atleast most research stations in Australia is open to public via group bookings. Unfortunately one that Is close to here (South Johnstone) does not sell banana plants any more due to having virus detected. They don't distribute any fruit, probably because they are afraid of being taken to court over spreading some disease I guess. They collect fruit as part of yield calculations so could distribute it for free to poor people.

W. I'll set the same directions as you If lost at sea! haha

Pagnr, where are there big citrus collections in AU?

Unfortunately that guide is in French as said but has some really great images!
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