Pollination of the Mediterranean Fig Tree, Ficus Carica L.: Caprification Practices and Social Networks of Exchange of Caprifigs among Jbala Farmers in Northern Morocco.

The Mediterranean fig (Ficus carica) is dioecious, with distinct male and female trees. Its pollinator, Blastophaga psenes, is hosted within male figs. We studied caprification, a practice to facilitate pollination by placing male figs from which pollinators emerge in female trees, among Jbala farmers in Morocco to analyze (1) farmers' knowledge of the pollinator's life cycle and receptivity of female figs; (2) the distribution of female fig varieties and diversity of male trees planted; and (3) the roles of social exchange networks in securing access to caprifigs using participant observation, open and semi-structured surveys, and an ego-centered protocol to study caprifig exchange networks. We document farmers' knowledge regarding caprification, the pollinator life cycle, and the caprification of intermediate male fig generations under adverse climatic conditions. Caprifig exchange networks show the critical role of markets in obtaining caprifigs for early fig varieties and in exchanges among farmers for late varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]