Overstory #248 - Perennial Staple Crops

Ricardo Romero of Las Cañadas in perennial staple food forest featuring peach palm, macadamia, air potato, banana, and perennial beans.

Introduction

Perennial Staple Crops are basic foodstuffs that grow on perennial plants. These plant sources of protein, carbohydrates, and fats can be harvested non-destructively -- that is, harvest does not kill the plant or prevent future harvests. This group of crops includes grains, pulses (dry beans), nuts, dry pods, starchy fruits, oilseeds, high-protein leaves, and some more exotic products like starch-filled trunks, sugary palm saps, and aerial tubers.

These trees, palms, grasses, and other long-lived crops offer the unique possibility of crops grown for basic human food that can simultaneously sequester carbon, stabilize slopes, and build soils as part of no-till perennial agricultural systems. Such production models seem the most likely of all regenerative farming practices to approach the carbon sequestering capacity of natural forest, because they can mimic the structure of a forest most closely.

Perennial staple crop systems are resilient in the face of extreme weather, surviving drought, flooding, and storms better than most annuals. These food forests can be long-lived, no-till, and low-maintenance -- which sounds like a rather utopian base of subsistence. They do however have harvesting and processing challenges -- for example most peach palm varieties have tall, very spiny trunks that must be climbed for harvest (both dwarf and spineless forms have been selected, but not yet one with both qualities).

Note that these benefits apply particularly to polycultures (multi-species systems) of perennial staple crops. Monocultures (single-species plantations) appear to sequester less carbon, are more fragile in the face of pests and extreme weather events, and certainly provide less additional social and ecological benefits.

Most of the species profiled here are still under development. Though they may have been grown for millennia, almost none have received the kind of breeding attention that annual staples like corn, rice, and wheat have received. Nonetheless, many actually outyield annual staple crops even in their neglected state. Others, notably perennial grains, are part of active breeding efforts and are showing great promise. Globally, a massive effort to fund breeding work, particularly providing additional resources to individuals and organizations already at work on perennial crops, should be an important component of climate change prevention.

Perennial Crop Candidates by Climate Type

The lowland humid tropics are rich in productive starchy perennial staples. Crops like bananas, breadfruit, sago palm, peach palm, air potato, and Tahitian chestnut are very high-yielding. The region is also well-supplied with perennial oilseeds like oil palms, Brazil nuts, and avocados. Perennial proteins are less available, with the few ready for prime time including breadnut and some other tropical nuts.

For arid and semi-arid tropical zones, the situation is also fairly promising. Carbohydrate crops include date palms and mesquite pods. Perennial protein crops include: perennial lima beans; buffalo gourd seeds; moringa, baobab, and chaya leaves; and extremely drought-tolerant edible-seeded acacias.

In the highland tropics, several unique crops offer great promise. Carbohydrate crops include lucuma fruit, mesquite pods, and the starchy trunks of enset. The remarkable chachafruto tree is a perennial bean with phenomenal production. Several other perennial beans including runner beans are suited to the highland tropics.

Mediterranean climates can feature carbohydrate crops like carob, dates, and chestnuts. Protein sources include avocado, almond, and pistachio. The olive is of course among the world--s finest oil crops. This is also the only region with an oak (Quercus ilex) that is functioning as a proper crop.

Cold temperate climates are in an interesting situation. We have the least number of staples ready for prime time, but by far the most breeding work being done. Chestnut and hazel are perhaps the best carbohydrate and protein crops (respectively) we have at present, with pecan our best oilseed. Edible leaf mulberry is also a fascinating and productive candidate. However, perennial grain development is moving ahead rapidly and the outlook for cold climates looks excellent. These grains may someday join mesquite in cold arid regions as the basis of human sustenance.

Barriers to Adoption of Perennial Staple Crops

Why are these crops not better known and more widely grown? Our global food system focuses primarily on annual grains, beans, oilseeds and tubers. These crops provide a yield quickly. Converting to perennial staple crops means facing many challenges.

For one, these crops are difficult to get your hands on. In any given region, few are available. Access to improved varieties is even harder to come by. A network of nurseries is an essential component of getting this plant material in the right hands. This will include navigating lots of permits and paperwork in bringing seeds and cuttings across national lines.

For any individual farmer, getting over the hump of establishment time is a major barrier. Waiting 3-5 years after planting for food or income is difficult for farmers everywhere, particularly where farmers must subsist on what they grow. Climate change funds could and should be targeted on a massive scale to make it possible for farmers to get these crops established. Lack of long-term land tenure is also an obstacle -- who wants to plant and care for trees on rented or otherwise insecure land?

Adoption of new crops is also a barrier. People like to eat what they are accustomed to, and won't necessarily eat something new just because it is good for them, grows easily, or helps fight climate change. Fortunately, many perennial staples taste excellent. This obstacle can also be partially overcome by replacing annual livestock feed crops with perennial ones. Hogs and cattle are a lot less picky about their foods than people!

Perennial staple crops, like corn and wheat, often require specialized equipment or infrastructure for harvesting, processing, and storage. This can be low- or high-tech. To implement a mass conversion to perennial staple crops will require development and distribution of the necessary equipment to make utilization possible.

Much research is also called for. Even in cases where selection and breeding work is relatively complete, which species and varieties are suited to a given region? What agronomic practices work best? How can perennial staples be integrated with nitrogen fixing species, livestock, and annual crops? This kind of research should be funded and prioritized as part of global and regional carbon sequestration efforts.

Perennial vs. Annual Crop Yields Compared

The yield figures used to compile these tables do not give a terribly accurate comparison, for several reasons: a) some are measured in fresh weight while others are dry weight, b) some, mostly the annual comparison crops, are fertilized and cared for while others are virtually unmanaged and could have substantially higher yields, c) the crops are grown in different climates with humid tropical species dominating the charts, d) some of these crops are fully domesticated, others virtually not at all, and many are in between, e) some yields include nutshells or inedible pits, and f) yield data on a few of the perennials is extrapolated from smaller land units. Some of these variables favor annuals and others favor perennials, but these tables at least give us somewhere to work from. Yields are in tons per hectare. One ton per hectare is equivalent to 892 pounds per acre.

A brief review of the tables will show that clearly many perennial staple crops are powerful food producers. Particularly in the tropics where candidates abound, these species should be central to carbon sequestration efforts.

Perennial carbohydrate crop yields

Perennial carbohydrates come in the forms of starchy fruits, seeds, nuts, dry pods, aerial tubers, dried fruits, and starchy trunks. These species are ranked by productivity and compared with annual crops. Annual crops for comparison are marked with an asterisk (note that cassava is really a perennial grown as an annual over a 1-2 year period).

Perennial protein crop yields

Perennial protein is somewhat rare, particularly in colder climates, and often comes in the form of nuts, which are not ideal because of the frequency of food allergies. Perennial beans are wonderful, and some areas of the world have good ones, though most of us have only limited perennial beans options in serious need of breeding work. Annual protein crops are provided for comparison and are marked with an asterisk.

High-protein perennial nuts and beans

High-protein perennial leaf crops

This chart compares protein yield per hectare, not total crop yields, as comparing leaves to beans and nuts is not very helpful. Annual crops soybean and spinach are provided for comparison and are marked with an asterisk -- note that perennial leaf crop protein/hectare is very competitive.

Edible perennial oilseed yields

In the tropics perennial oil plants already dominate. In colder zones, pecan oil yields 150% of rapeseed, the highest-yielding annual oilseed in the table. Note in particular the high number of palms. Annuals are provided for comparison and are marked with an asterisk.

Original Source

This article was excerpted from the original with the kind permission of the author:

Toensmeier, Eric. 2012. Perennial Staple Crops of the World. Permaculture Activist #81.  http://www.perennialsolutions.org/perennial-farming-systems-organic-agriculture-edible-permaculture-eric-toensmeier-large-scale-farmland.html

Author Bio

Eric Toensmeier is the author of Perennial Vegetables and co-author with Dave Jacke of Edible Forest Gardens. His writing and teaching is currently largely focused on regenerative agriculture for climate stabilization. His writings, videos, and upcoming workshop schedule can be viewed at www.perennialsolutions.org.

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      • The Overstory #145--Wild Foods and Food Security
      • The Overstory #128--Wild Foods in Agricultural Systems
      • The Overstory #12--Perennial Leaf Vegetables