Indigenous Knowledge on cultivation and consumption of Enset (Enset ventricosum) in Kercha District; West Guji Zone, Oromia Region of Ethiopia

Abstract

Enset (Enset ventricosum) is a perennial herbaceous root crop with long broad leaves and bulky pseudo-stem. It is one of the important food secure plant due to drought resisting property. This research was conducted with the objective of assessing indigenous knowledge of enset farming and its consumption experienced in Kercha district, west Guji zone, and Oromia region of Ethiopia. Four kebeles were selected purposively based on the enset vegetation coverage and 80 informants were selected by stratified sampling method. Data was collected using open questionnaires, interview and field observation and it was analyzed using SPSS software and Microsoft Excel. The present result showed that 21 enset varieties have been identified and not all of them were preferred for cultivation. Instead, farmers select and maintain these local varieties that best meet their needs using their indigenous knowledge. This selection was mostly based on the criteria farmers used to use. Accordingly, 25% of them based on resistance to pest and disease, and 22.5% of them based on maturation period are the most criteria the farmers would always consider. Although most farmers cultivate enset in the home garden, the mode cultivation was varying from highland to lowland. For example 82,.75% of respondents use mono-cropping and 17.25% of them use the intercropping system in the highland area while, in Midland areas, 86.25% of respondents use intercropping and 13.75% of them use mono-cropping mode of cultivation. However, it is used for many purposes the present result showed that enset is cultivated mainly for food as 63.75% of respondents’ feedback in the district where the corm and the pseudo-stem are the most important sources of food. The types of food from these parts are locally known ‘Kocho or Warqe’, ‘Bulla or Haruro’ and ‘Amicho or Ham'o’. From these, the major products prepared are locally known as are 'quncisa,' 'wodhamo', 'hocoqo' and 'qixa'. Hence, despite the enset has the potential for food security and income generation which is known by indigenous people, it has been cultivating by the traditional farming system. So, further investigation is required to scale up the knowledge of farmers to the modern farming system.