Agriculture in Tuvalu

Cyrtosperma merkusii
File:Babai.jpg
Cultivation of pulaka (also known as babai (Kiribati)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Alismatales
Family:	Araceae
Subfamily:	Lasioideae
Genus:	Cyrtosperma
Species:	C. merkusii
Binomial name
Cyrtosperma merkusii (Hassk.) Schott
Synonyms
Cyrtosperma chamissonis (Schott) Merr. Cyrtosperma edule Schott Cyrtosperma lasioides Griff.

Agriculture in Tuvalu is based on coconut and swamp taro (Cyrtosperma chamissonis), (known in Tuvalu as Pulaka), which is similar to taro (Colocasia esculenta) but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots"; taro is also cultivated in Tuvalu.

Bananas and breadfruit are supplemental crops. The dried flesh of the coconut (copra) is the main agricultural export of Tuvalu, with other agricultural products consumed locally. Because of the young geological age of the reef islands and atolls and high level of soil salination the soils is relatively poor. Wealth and status in traditional Tuvaluan culture was determined by possession of pulaka and taro pits and coconut trees.

Traditional use of broadleaf forest

Charles Hedley (1896) identified the uses of plants and trees that were harvested from the native broadleaf forest as including:

• Food plants: Coconut; and Ferra, native fig (Ficus aspem).
• Fibre: Coconut; Ferra; Fala, Screw Pine, Pandanus; Fau or Fo fafini, or woman's fibre tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus).
• Timber: Fau or Fo fafini; Pouka, (Hernandia peltata); Ngia or Ingia bush, (Pemphis acidula); Miro, (Thespesia populnea); Tonga, (Rhizophora mucronata).
• Dye: Valla valla, (Premna taitensis); Tonga, (Rhizophora mucronata); and Nonou, (Morinda citrifolia).
• Scent: Fetau, (Calophyllum inophyllum); Jiali, (Gardenia taitensis); and Boua (Guettarda speciosa); Valla valla, (Premna taitensis); and Crinum.
• Medicinal: Tulla tulla, (Triumfetta procumbens); Nonou, (Morinda citrifolia); Tausoun, (Heliotropium foertherianum); Valla valla, (Premna taitensis); Talla talla gemoa fern, (Psilotum triquetrum); Lou, (Cardamine sarmentosa); and Lakoumonong, (Wedelia strigulosa).

While some use is made of traditional flora, modern Tuvalu imports building materials and other products to replace the things traditionally harvested from the native broadleaf forest.

Coconut

The cuisine of Tuvalu, is based on the staple of coconut which is used in different forms with coconut water, coconut milk and the flesh of the coconut being used to flavour dishes. Various desserts made on the islands include coconut and coconut milk, instead of the animal milk. Apart from its food value coconut palm leaves and wood have traditional uses as building materials.

From the mid 19th century traders in Tuvalu were active in the acquisition of copra and coconut oil, which were mainly used to manufactured into other products. In 1892 Captain Davis of HMS Royalist, reported on trading activities and traders on each of the islands visited:

Island	Production	Annual export of copra
Nukulaelae	Copra, taro, popoi [breadfruit?], a few bananas, a little sugar cane	About 10 tons copra
Funafuti	Copra, taro, puraka [pulaka], Bananas, sugar cane, bread fruit	About 25 to 30 tons of copra
Nukufetau	Copra, taro, babai, pandanus, a little sugar cane, a few bananas	About twenty tons copra
Nui	Copra, taro, papoi, pandanus, a few bananas, a very little sugar cane and bread fruit.	About 100 tons of copra - in a good year
Niutao	Copra, Taro, papai, pandanus	About 50 tons copra - in a good year
Nanumaga	Copra, taro, pandanus	15 to 20 tons copra - in a good year
Nanumea	Copra, pandanus, taro	30 to 40 tons copra
Vaitupu	Copra, taro, puraka [pulaka], pandanus	About 50 tons copra

In modern times there is lower demand for copra and coconut oil as other commodities can be substituted for what were the earlier uses of these products.

Pulaka

Grown in large pits of composted soil below the water table, pulaka is the main source for carbohydrates. Pulaka makes up the bulk of the islanders' traditional diet; it is usually supplemented by fish. Since the unprocessed corms are toxic, they must always be cooked, usually in an earth oven. The pulaka pits are at risk from increasing sea levels, which increase saltwater levels subsoil in the atolls and islands of Tuvalu. On Fongafale islet of Funafuti a survey of the pits that have previously been used to grow pulaka established that the pits were either too saline or very marginal for swamp taro production, although a more salt tolerant species of taro (Colocasia esculenta) was being grown in Fongafale.

Changes in diet

Besides rising saltwater levels, "changing lifestyles and eating habits" also threaten the cultivation of the crop, a process that began during and after World War II, when American occupying troops supplied the islands with imported foods and many pulaka pits are no longer maintained. Imported foods are often high in sugar, leading also to an increase in the need for dental care. The Tuvaluans benefited from the canned food supplied by the American forces, although the change in diet continued after the war, which resulted in long term impacts on health. Tuvaluans adopted a diet that includes high levels of corned beef, rice and sugar. This food is consumed even when fish and traditional vegetables are available. This diet is believed to contribute to increasing levels of diabetes, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases among Tualuans.