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Enset landrace diversity in major enset growing regions of Southern Ethiopia

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Title Enset landrace diversity in major enset growing regions of Southern Ethiopia
 
Creator Blomme, Guy
Kearsley, Elizabeth
Buta, Sisay
Chala, Alemayehu
Kebede, Ruhama
Addis, Temesgen
Yemataw, Zerihun
 
Subject food security
crop production
agronomic characters
Ensete ventricosum
landraces
climate change adaptation
 
Description Enset [Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman] is an important food security crop of the Southern Ethiopian highlands. The cultivation of enset is characterised by a wide variety of landraces, suitable to varying agro-ecological conditions and with multiple uses by households. The objective of this paper is to present enset landrace diversity, characteristics and uses in Ethiopia. The study was done through interviews with 375 households covering 20 communities (kebeles) and eight ethnic groups, along an altitudinal range of 1,500 to 3,000 masl across the main enset-producing belt in Southern Ethiopia. A total of 296 locally named enset landraces were recorded. Landrace presence was mostly constrained at the kebele and zone levels, with limited overlap in landrace names across these boundaries. Moderate to high enset landrace diversity was observed on farms across the entire study region. Cultivating a variety of landraces not only allowed for diversified uses, but increases the likelihood of retained yield and food security under variable environmental circumstances. Farmer experience and indigenous knowledge allow for the selection of specific landraces suited to prevalent agro-ecological conditions. We identified a perception bias in the attribution of landrace agro-ecological characteristics, with farmer insight often dependent on the environmental conditions that the local community was exposed to. We underscore the importance of research-based characterisation of enset landraces, to ensure optimal cultivation of this food security crop in changing climatic conditions.
 
Date 2023-08-14
2023-08-17T08:09:34Z
2023-08-17T08:09:34Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Blomme, G.; Kearsley, E.; Buta, S.; Chala, A.; Kebede, R.; Addis, T.; Yemataw, Z. (2023) Enset landrace diversity in major enset growing regions of Southern Ethiopia. African Crop Science Journal 31(3) p. 279 - 299. ISSN: 1021-9730
1021-9730
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/131575
https://doi.org/10.4314/acsj.v31i3.2
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-NC-4.0
Open Access
 
Format p. 279-299
application/pdf
 
Publisher African Crop Science Society
 
Source African Crop Science Journal