Enset- Based Agrobiodiversity in the Agricultural Landscape of Kambatta Tembaro (KT), Southern Ethiopia
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Date
2013-06
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abstract
The managem~nt of agrobiodiversity (AB) by farmers buttresses sustainable food security
and continuous ecosystem services against the predicted future global environmental
change. However, the loss of traditional knowledge on local landraces. and breeds,
inadequate information on AB distribution, and the focus on improved varieties are
becoming threats for the long-term conservation of AB. The current study focuses on
agrobiodiversity of enset- based agricultural landscape of KT, southern Ethiopia. The
agroclimate of the areas was used for selecting a total of 12 study sites (farmscapes). To
understand the roles of the socio-economic conditions on AB, 180 households (HHs)
were selected based on the wealt~ status. Environmental data such as slope and elevation
were recorded for each sampling sites. The area share of the crop as well as woody
species was measured, and the species were inventoried. Standard ethnobotanical
methods were used to collect information on the uses of these plant species. The data
analyses were carried out by Cr4NOCO for Windows ver. 4.52, R program 2.14.0,
Minitab ver 15, and SAS ver. 8.02.
A total of 371 plant species were recorded whereby crop ' are 92 and woody pecie are
186. A total of 170 medicinal plant species that are helpful in the primary health care of
the human and the livestock are reported. Seventeen plant species endemic to Ethiopia
were identified, of which thirteen are medicinal plants. Years of farming, livestock
holding, and distance to market influenced the number of crop species significantly.
There are 111 landraces of enset (Ensete ventricosum) recorded from the study area. The
number of landraces increases with increase in the farmland size and the elevation. The
slope, age of farmland, area of the woodlot, and available HH labour influence the
woody species richness. One exotic tree species, Eucalyptus camaldulensis was identified
as the most important woody species. Finally, it is recommendable to train extension
agents on the areas of AB maintenance so that they would assist farmers effectively.
Moreover, avoiding extensive plaptation of Eucalyptus on crop fields may contribute to
the long-term persistence of AB of the study area.
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Keywords
words: Agrobiodiversity, crop landraces, Enset, Kambatta Tembaro, medicinal plant, traditional management, and tree diversity