We will soon plant our first three maya nut (guáimaro) trees on Milagros. We will plant one in the small forest between the houses, one as shade for the big house, and one by the entrance to the land.
OUR SHORT-TERM PLAN
I am in contact with the Maya Nut Institute for information and guidance, and we hope to receive seeds from neighbors within the next few months. I hope to plant a few hundred trees next year. If we receive the seeds this fall, we can plant them in our nursery at the beginning of the dry season in December, water them through the dry season, and plant them out at the beginning of the wet season in April or May next year. Most will be planted along the road up to the houses and along the two main paths going through Milagros. I assume we’ll plant quite a few in the other areas as well.
MAYA NUT NAMES
The Maya Nut has many names: Brosimum alicastrum in Latin. Guáimaro in Colombia and other countries, Ramón in Mexico and Central America, Ojoche in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Ojite in some regions of Mexico, and Capomo also in Mexico. Indigenous people calls it Sak’a’ (Maya) and Uxpan (indigenous communities in Mexico). In English, it’s called Maya Nut, Breadnut, or Ramon Nut.
CHARACTERISTICS
They are typically 35-50 meters tall, although can grow up to 50 meters tall. Their root system is deep, suitable to a climate with dry seasons and they are an important part of the tropical dry forest in many areas of Latin America. They were used and likely grown by the Mayan people and many other indigenous people as part of their food forests. They take 5 to 7 years to produce nuts, and 10 to 15 years to give a full yield. A mature tree can produce 100-300 kilos of nuts at a time, sometimes up to 350kg. They produce fruits/nuts at irregular intervals, every 1 to 3 years, so the annual average is half of that. It also means having several trees for a more stable production is best. The nuts can be eaten whole and the roasted flour can be used for baking or a hot drink. They are highly nutritious and rich in protein, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals.
INCOME POTENTIAL
What I have found so far suggests an income of roughly 100-400 USD a year from each mature tree, with roughly half going to expenses and taxes. (2.5 USD per kg x 50-175 kg annually on average = 125-438 USD). This obviously depends on a lot of factors, including the market value. It’s not too much for each tree, but it adds up when you have a small forest.
It will take 10-15 years to have a good income. In the meantime, we can prune the trees for green mulch or sell it as fodder for cows and goats.
A FOREST CAN BE MORE VALUABLE STANDING
With the loss of dry tropical forests in Latin America, the Maya Nut trees have become rare, although they seem to have a renaissance these days with several organizations promoting them and more people planting them as part of a reforestation project or food forest.
Over the previous decades and centuries, many landowners have cut down the forest to sell the timber and grow grass for cattle. These days, many realize that it can be as or more profitable to keep the forest and grow valuable food in the forest or use it as part of a silvopasture system (trees combined with grazing).
As mentioned above, we are regrowing the native forest on our land, and we are creating a food forest near the houses and along the main paths through the land. We will also plant several food-producing trees in the more wild areas to benefit the wildlife there.
My guideline is to create a forest that’s too valuable to cut down. If it has 500 to 1000 maya nut trees, the annual income is high enough so anyone would think twice about selling it or cutting down the forest.
RESOURCES
Above is a good video from Deutsche Welle in Spanish with English subtitles. They interview someone from Tamadúa who produces the roasted guáimaro I use as a hot drink, the chef at Mini-Mal which is my favorite restaurant in Bogotá, and a researcher at the Humbolt Institute in Villa de Leyva.
The Maya Nut Institute educates on the benefits and growing of the maya nut trees and provides seeds and certification. To be a certified grower, you need to follow certain guidelines including sustainable and organic practices, ecological diversity, paying the workers well, and that 70% of the people involved in the production need to be women or younger than 30 years old. That suits us well.
And some articles:
Colombia’s ‘tree of life’ births a new culinary and conservation movement – Mongabay
Latin America’s ‘Magic Tree’ Slowly Coming Back To Life – Jakarta Times