Department of Microbial, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Institute of Biotechnology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2023 Jan 5;19(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s13002-022-00569-x.
Enset is an important source of food and is consumed by about 25 million people as a staple or co-staple food crop mainly in southern parts of Ethiopia. Large numbers of enset landraces exist in different administrative zones of Ethiopia with a wide range of altitudes and agroclimatic zones. However, limited information is available on the diversity, distribution, and utilization pattern corresponding to the diverse ethnolinguistic as well as sociocultural communities of the country. Hence, this study was devised to explore and document the richness of farmers' tradition and practice on the diversity and distribution of enset landraces on the farm level and selection pattern for different purposes regarding the production, utilization, and conservation of enset genetic resources.
The study was conducted in four major enset-growing administrative zones of Ethiopia, namely Hadiya, Kembata-Tembaro, Gurage, and Silte. A total of 240 farm households were surveyed using individual interviews, 18 key informant interviews, 36 focus group discussions with 5 participants, and direct on-farm field observations for data collection. Considering that enset has a rich cultural background and indigenous knowledge, ethnobotanical research approach was applied to data collection and analysis. The Shannon-Weaver, Simpson, Pielou, and Jaccard's similarity indices were used to evaluate the diversity and similarity of the landraces as well as using descriptive statistics in SPSS Ver. 24. Preference in direct matrix ranking was also used to compute and rank the enset landraces most preferred by the people in the context of specific use value in the study area.
A total of 282 farmer-named enset landraces have been identified, with a range from 2 to 32 on individual homegardens. The largest number of landraces was found in the Hadiya Zone (86), while the lowest was scored in the Silte Zone (57). The Shannon diversity index (H') ranged from 3.73 (Silte) to 3.96 (Hadiya). Similarly, landraces revealed a very narrow range of variances in Simpson's 1-D diversity index, and it ranged from 0.963 (Silte) to 0.978 (Hadiya). Likewise, the similarity index ranged from 0.24 to 0.73 sharing 16-47 landraces in common. Of the 282 landraces, 210 (74.5%) were recorded in more than one zones, whereas 72 (25.5%) had narrow distribution being restricted to a single zone.
Farmers have established long-term practices and experiences in cultivation, utilization, and conservation of a diverse group of enset landraces to fill their domestic and market purposes in each zone. The variation is likely to be related to agroclimatic differences, ethnicity factors, food cultures, and historical backgrounds. Therefore, to facilitate on-farm conservation as well as sustainable utilization of the enset genetic resources, farmers need to be supported by different stakeholders for all their worth and also in crop improvement programs.
蕉麻是一种重要的食物来源，约 2500 万人将其作为主食或副主食，主要集中在埃塞俄比亚南部地区。在埃塞俄比亚的不同行政区，存在大量蕉麻地方品种，分布在不同的海拔和农业气候带。然而，关于蕉麻地方品种的多样性、分布以及与该国不同民族语言和社会文化群体相对应的利用模式，相关信息十分有限。因此，本研究旨在探索和记录农民在农场层面上对蕉麻地方品种多样性和分布的传统和实践，以及针对蕉麻遗传资源的生产、利用和保护的不同目的的选择模式。
本研究在埃塞俄比亚四个主要的蕉麻种植行政区进行，分别是哈迪亚、肯巴塔-滕巴罗、古拉格和西尔特。通过个人访谈、18 名关键信息提供者访谈、36 次每组 5 人的焦点小组讨论以及直接在农场进行实地观察，共对 240 户农户进行了调查，以收集数据。考虑到蕉麻具有丰富的文化背景和本土知识，本研究采用民族植物学研究方法进行数据收集和分析。使用香农-威弗、辛普森、皮尔劳和雅卡尔相似性指数来评估地方品种的多样性和相似性，并在 SPSS Ver. 24 中使用描述性统计。还使用直接矩阵排序偏好来计算和排名研究区域中最受人们喜爱的蕉麻地方品种，以反映其在特定使用价值方面的偏好。
共鉴定出 282 个农民命名的蕉麻地方品种，每个家庭菜园的数量从 2 到 32 不等。地方品种数量最多的是哈迪亚区（86 个），而最少的是西尔特区（57 个）。香农多样性指数（H'）范围从 3.73（西尔特）到 3.96（哈迪亚）。同样，辛普森 1-D 多样性指数的品种方差范围很窄，从 0.963（西尔特）到 0.978（哈迪亚）。同样，相似性指数范围从 0.24 到 0.73，共有 16-47 个品种共享。在 282 个地方品种中，210 个（74.5%）记录在一个以上的行政区，而 72 个（25.5%）分布范围狭窄，仅局限于一个行政区。
农民在蕉麻的种植、利用和保护方面建立了长期的实践和经验，以满足每个行政区的国内和市场需求。这种变化可能与农业气候差异、民族因素、饮食文化和历史背景有关。因此，为了促进蕉麻遗传资源的农场保护和可持续利用，需要不同利益相关者支持农民，肯定他们的价值，并将其纳入作物改良计划中。
