Local Customary Use and Management of Ethiopian Potato (Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew in Sodo Zuria District, South Ethiopia

Abstract

The Ethiopian potato ( Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew, Lamiaceae) is an under-utilized tuber crop. An ethnobotanical study was conducted on the use and management of P. edulis in Sodo Zuria district, south Ethiopia. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to interview 63 farmers in three locations. In all locations, farmers reported a decreasing trend in the number of local varieties maintained on their farms. The socio-economic status of the households was found to be an important factor affecting conservation and use of the crop. Most farmers (81%), who did not have enough land, used seed tubers from other sources. The study showed a significant relationship between tuber source and age of farmers (chi squared = 15.81, P<0.05). The study also revealed that older farmers were more knowledgeable than younger ones. Based on farmers’ descriptors, a total of six distinct local varieties were recorded. Among the six local varieties, lofuwa , unnuka and chenkuwa were widely grown across the study kebeles . Shortage of cultivable land, long maturation period, displacement by other crops, and shortage of seed tubers were the main causes for declining interest in cultivation.