Imbalances between requirements for and availability of wood resources already occur in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world. To help alleviate these imbalances, interest is being directed toward the initiation of artificial regeneration programs to grow multipurpose tree species at the rural level and toward the conservation of the genetic resources available.
Through a review of pertinent literature and current practices, guidelines have been developed for the collection, handling, storage, and pre-treatment of Prosopis seed, with emphasis placed on species growing in Mexico and Central America, and identified to be of potential importance by the FAO/IBPGR Project on Genetic Resources of Arid and Semi-Arid Zone Arboreal Species for the Improvement of Rural Living. Guidelines, such as those presented herein, are important in that, in general, procedures have not been standardized for these tasks.
A planning framework for the collection, handling, storage, and pre-treatment of Prosopis seed is described. However, it should be recognized that any planning framework should be flexible, with a number of options commonly available for the implementation of specific tasks.
