Composition of Crop Plants and Their Determinants In Homegardens (Gone) of Ezha District, Gurage Zone, Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region, Ethiopia
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Date
2019-06-06
Authors
Getachew, Emebet
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess composition of crop plants and their determinants in Homegardens of Ezha District. Reconnaissance survey was conducted from October 27-31, 2018. Eleven kebele were selected purposively. From each kebele 11 households were selected randomly sampling and 121 households were used for the study. Crop plant inventory and socio-economic survey were conducted using plant inventory collection format and semi-structured questionnaire. Plant specimens were collected and identified at the National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University. The location and altitude of each HGs were recoded using GPS. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the effects of ecological and socio-economic factors on homegardens crop plant species richness were analyzed using the Linear Mixed Effect Model (LMER) and One-way ANOVA within R statistical program. Totally, 47 crop plant species belonging to 40 genera and 25 families were recorded. Family Rutaceae was represented by the higher number of species (5) followed by Brassicaceae (4), Rosaceae (4) & Solanaceae (4). The most frequent crop plant species were Enset ventricosum (100%), Coffea arabica (66 %) and Persea americana (59%). The result showed that the crop species richness in homegardens were affected by household wealth status, distance from forest, altitude and woody species richness (P<0.007). The species richness was higher in homegardens of rich households when compared with that of the poor households. Moreover, the species richness increased with increasing distance from forest edges, while decreased with increasing altitude. Overall, the present study denoted that the importance of homegardens for crop biodiversity conservation is determined by ecological and socio-economic characteristics of the human modified landscapes. As these sites are high potential agricultural areas, strengthening can be achieved by integrating high-value and more productive crops while maintaining the integrated and complex nature of the systems.
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Keywords
Ezha, Gone, Ecological Factors, Socio-Economic Factors, Crop Plant