Breadfruits show resilience as first to fruit post HTHH ashfall

15 Dec Breadfruits show resilience as first to fruit post HTHH ashfall

The Pacific people have for many centuries intrinsically tied to nature and great and many tales have been passed down through generations venerating nature and biodiversity.

The Tongans grew up hearing tales of the coconut tree, a life that was sacrificed to sustain people for generations. The banana tree that rotted and of which sprang forth 3 maggots that became the first people of the Earth – Kohai, Koau and Momo. The giant taro that the King had leaned against to rest, unwittingly doing so barred the only inhabitants on an island to prepare lunch for the royal leading to drastic measures.

However, very little documents the stoic nature of the lowly breadfruit save for a proverb of “Teke a Lei mei hono fu’u mei” that translates to pushing Lei out from his breadfruit tree.

The breadfruit tree was not spared during the ashfall of January 15^th 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH). The ash that gathered on the leaves and the fruit led to mass desiccation, however the true strength of the breadfruit was witnessed shortly after as new shoots began to spring from the trees.

Other fruit trees, indigenous trees, medicinal plants and trees as well as crops suffered great losses not only from the ash fall but through a combination of ash, heat and rainfall. In a great effort by the locals to recuperate their losses; farmers were forced to harvest their crops early only to find that crops were rotting, or were damaged from the heat during the brief drought period last year.

As the breadfruit begins its regeneration, hopefully it will provide much needed food supply for the nation. Works to assist smallholder farmers regain their activities will be slow and depending on the cycles of the crops the harvest times will be staggered across the year and years to come.