Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Plants with Economic Potential

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 6 2007 (IPS) - Brazilian plants with economic potential… In Brazil, the pupunha palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth) produces 20 tons of oil per hectare, four times more than the African palm (Elaeis guineensis), the source of the oil that is second in terms of world consumption.

Lidio Coradin, coordinator of Genetic Resources at the Ministry of the Environment, told Tierramérica this information.

Cultivation of pupunha palm, found in the Amazon region and Central America, has been expanding to provide heart of palm, but not yet for its vegetable oil, which will be in growing demand to make biodiesel.

It is one of 775 native species with great economic potential identified by the Ministry, which will publish this information in five volumes, starting this year, in a bid to encourage their sustainable use.

The plants selected were the most promising for ornamental, medicinal, oil production or aromatic uses, among others, Coradin said.