Mizan-Tepi University, Department of Horticulture, Mizan-Aman, Ethiopia.
School of Plant and Horticulture Science, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
Plant Signal Behav. 2021 May 4;16(5):1879531. doi: 10.1080/15592324.2021.1879531. Epub 2021 Mar 8.
The far Southwest Ethiopians transplant wild plant species to their gardens. One of such plant is the Dioscorea that we studied to assess the knowledge of wild yam and process of domestication. The study links two types of evidence to obtain insight about the process of yam domestication. We analyze two data sets derived from (1) ethnobotanical survey using 231 semi-structured interviews; and (2) morphological study in 47 yam accessions. Our study revealed that domestication is still active in some villages. Knowledge of yam domestication was shared by 44% of the farmers' even by those that have never practiced its domestication. Farmers who can describe the trend of domestication and the morphotypes of domesticate represented 21 and 28%, respectively. Farmers who have recent transplants in their garden varied from 4% in Bench to 10% in Sheko. The domestication process described by the two ethnic groups is similar. The duration of domestication can take up to six years, but with most of the individuals, it only takes three to five years. By linking the two types of evidence, two evolutionary processes are distinguished: (1) populations of recent domesticate expressing a domestication syndrome possibly belongs to the wild or , and (2) plants of incipient domesticate that might be derived from volunteers or diverse types of hybrids. Each of these processes can lead to integration of wild genotypes into the cultivated gene pool, and hence, enhance genetic diversity of cultivated yams. The domestication practices of traditional farmers should thus be taken into account if yam conservation and improvement plans need to be established.
远西南埃塞俄比亚人将野生植物移植到他们的花园中。我们研究了其中一种植物薯蓣，以评估对野生山药的了解程度和驯化过程。这项研究将两种证据联系起来，以深入了解山药驯化的过程。我们分析了两个数据集，一个来自（1）使用 231 个半结构化访谈的民族植物学调查；另一个来自 47 个山药品种的形态学研究。我们的研究表明，一些村庄的驯化过程仍在进行中。即使是那些从未从事过驯化的农民，也有 44%的人了解山药的驯化。能描述驯化趋势和驯化形态的农民分别占 21%和 28%。在他们的花园里有最近移植的农民，在 Bench 从 4%到 Sheko 从 10%不等。这两个民族群体描述的驯化过程是相似的。驯化过程可能需要长达六年的时间，但对于大多数人来说，只需要三到五年。通过将这两种证据联系起来，我们区分了两个进化过程：（1）表达驯化综合征的近期驯化种群可能属于野生或；（2）处于初期驯化的植物可能来自志愿者或不同类型的杂种。这些过程中的每一个都可以将野生基因型整合到栽培基因库中，从而提高栽培山药的遗传多样性。因此，如果需要制定山药保护和改良计划，就应该考虑传统农民的驯化实践。
