Asfaw Zemede (Professor)Woldu Zerihun (Professor)Gufuy Meresa2019-11-042023-11-092019-11-042023-11-092019-06-04http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/19776This study was conducted on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., Fabaceae) varieties identified by farmers of Wag-himra and North Wollo zones in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. The main objective of the study was to investigate on the diversity of cowpea landraces (farmers’ varieties) and to know the ethnobotanical values of the crop. A total of 168 informants (84 men and 84 women) comprising 72 general informants and 12 key informants per zone aged between 19 and 75 years were interviewed. The field data were collected by using purposive sampling and random simpling technique in farmers’ fields, threshing grounds, home gardens, stores and market places. Descriptive statistics, informant consensus, preference ranking, ANOVA (analysis of variance), Shannon- Wiener diversity index, post hoc test and t-test were employed for the analysis of the data by using R-software (R studio) v 3.2.2 and MS Excel spreadsheet 2016. Thirty six accessions were collected and classified under eleven farmer-named varieties. The Tepid sub-moist mid-highland (SM3) agroecological zone of Wag-himra had high varietal diversity (H’=0.978049) while the Cool sub-moist highland (SM4) zone of Wag-himra came up with the least varietal diversity (H’=0.593763). Famers grow cowpea on farm sizes ranging from 0.24 ha and 0.30 ha. Area covered by cowpea by agroecological strata and zone had statistically significant differences (p<0.05). In the study area cowpea is widely intercropped with sorghum and maize and in addition to that in Wag-himra agroecological zone most cowpea is sole-cropped in part due to the sandy soil.enCowpeaEthnobotanyFarmers’ KnowledgeFarmers’ Variety/LandraceAgroecologyThesis