Son tra (
Docynia Indica) is an indigenous fruit tree species growing naturally in forests throughout upland Asia. Son tra fruit is eaten fresh and can be made into wine, tea, vinegar and juice. It is abundant in Northwestern Viet Nam, an area populated by H’mong people, hence its nickname, ‘H’mong apple’.
The fruit tree has been cloned as part of research to improve yields and incomes of farmers in Northwestern Viet Nam.
Propagation of son tra has mainly relied on collection of natural seeds and production of nursery-grown seedlings, meaning that the quality of seedlings and the fruit when harvested has not been uniform nor of consistently high quality. Domestication of son tra is one of the outstanding research activities of World Agroforestry (ICRAF) Viet Nam in collaboration with the Forest Science Centre for Northwestern Viet Nam, carried out by two projects led by ICRAF: Agroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers in Northwest Viet Nam; and Developi
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