The purpose of this research was to “Performance of Tamarind (
Tamarindus indica L.) Accessions under Dryland Conditions”. In many regions around the world, the exploration for novel high-quality and low-cost food sources is a key concern of governments and organizations concerned for food and nutrition (
Balogun and Fetuga 1986).
Based on existing developments, projections indicate a gap between human population and food supply
(Vijayakumari et al., 1997). As a consequence, research efforts are being focused on finding and analysing underutilised crops that have been neglected to the disadvantage of human development as future food crops (
Egbe and Akinyele 1990;
Adekunle and Ojerinde 2004).
Tamarind is a member of the dicotyledonous Leguminosae family, which is the third biggest flowering plant family with 727 genera and 19,327 species
(Lewis et al., 2005). The term tamarind comes from the the Arabic word “Tamar-E Hind” meaning “Date of India”. It is almost found throughout the tropics and sub-tropics of the world and has naturalized at many places particularly in India, South East Asia, Tropical America, the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean. The Asian countries, such as India and Thailand, are the primary producers. Tamarind popularly known as Imli is one of the auspicious, versatile tree in the Indian subcontinent and particularly abundant in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal
(Singh et al., 2007). It is a diploid species with 2n=26 chromosomes (
Purseglove, 1987). India is the world’s largest producer of tamarind and it is estimated that 300,000 tons are produced annually. Tamarind is an important cash crop of India and enjoys sixth position in terms of export earnings. Tamarind tolerates high pH and is well suited to wastelands, drylands, saline and sodic soils. The trees act as windbreak in many areas and also suitable for drought prone areas. Tamarind thrives in a tropical climate with hot, dry summers and moderate winters. It can withstand drought but is prone to frost. Tamarind can be grown in almost all types of soil even on poor and margin soils, since; its life-span is long, deep loamy soils with adequate soil moisture holding capacity is ideal. A typical fruit contains about 55% pulp, 34% seeds and 11% shell and fibre on weight basis
(Rao et al., 2001; De Caluwe et al. (2010)). Due to the obvious large amount of fruit produced, processing firms now have a plenty of raw material to work with. Fruit’s excellent flavour, nutritional content and therapeutic properties indicate that it has a high potential for processing into value-added goods with a long shelf life. Processing into value-added products is one means of preserving this commodity and improving its use for human health. Soups, jams, chutneys, sauces and juices all use the edible pulp of ripe fruit as a flavouring component
(Isholoa et al., 1990). The tamarind fruit pulp has the most tartaric acid (8–18%) of any natural source. Moreover, pulp is the only material used for culinary purposes
(Balan et al., 2017). Hence the present investigation on performance of tamarind (
Tamarindus indica L.) accessions under dryland conditions was carried out at Hayatnagar Research Farm, ICAR-CRIDA.
