Composition Of Homegardens Research Articles

How Close Are We to Self-Provisioning? A Look at the Livelihood Strategies of Rural Households in the Southern Andean Region of Colombia

Production for self-provisioning contributes to food security in rural territories; however, studies have indicated that this capacity is limited. We analyzed the impact of livelihood strategies on self-provisioning conditions in 162 rural households in the department of Huila, Colombia. We analyzed: a. source of foods; b. composition of home gardens; c. push and pull factors towards self-provisioning. We found that rural households are 79% dependent on grocery stores for their food. Only 51% of households have a home garden, with limited plant species diversity. Capacity for self-provisioning varies according to the livelihood strategies and capitals endowment of the household. Those households with a greater diversity of agricultural activities have higher capacity for self-provisioning. Conditions that are often the main objective of rural development programs, such as improving the economic income of families, turn out to be contradictory to the capacity to produce the food itself. For example, the larger the area to grow crops or keep livestock and the better the economic income, the greater the external dependence on food.

The best choices: the diversity and functions of the plants in the home gardens of the Tsang-la (Motuo Menba) communities in Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, Southwest China

BackgroundHome garden is identified as a kind of small-scale land-use system which is used to manage and cultivate useful plants by local people, and home gardens can provide various plant products and services. Investigating home gardens was regarded as an effective way to understand the biodiversity-related local knowledge and culture of native people in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology. Home garden is important in less developed and remote areas. The grand canyon of Yarlung Tsangpo is designed as one of the biodiversity hotspots of China, and it is one of the most remote regions of China, because of the rough traffic conditions. The aim of the present study is to collect, record, and document the plants and their local knowledge and functions in the local home gardens, then attempt to answer the question: “why local people selected these plants?”Material and methodsThe study area was in Beibeng Township of Motuo County in the grand canyon of Yarlung Tsangpo. Observation and semi-structure interviews with informed consent were used to collect data in field study. All information was collected and organized, then documented based on “ethno-species” as a fundamental unit. All of the information of local use and knowledge were organized as the list of “use-report” for quantitative analysis, and the local uses of plants were merged into 14 use categories. Frequency of citation (FC), relative frequency of citation (RFC), cultural importance index (CI), and cultural value index (CV) were used in quantitative analysis. Besides, the Jaccard Index was used to compare the similarity in plant species selection among different communities.ResultsA total of 78 home gardens in the 9 communities of Beibeng Township were visited, and 196 ethno-species were collected. These ethno-species were identified into 188 Botanical taxa. A total of 87 home garden owners as informants were interviewed in the present study, and they provided 625 use-reports to us. The top 5 important plants were Su-lan-tsao (Dendrobium nobile), Sa-ga (Zingiber officinale), Soe-lu (Capsicum annuum), Snying-pa (Citrus medica), and Kham-pu (Prunus persica), according to the quantitative analysis. The most citied use-category was “vegetable,” followed by “ornamental plant,” “medicine,” and “fruit.” The altitude might be the most important impact factor of the plant diversity and composition of home gardens, and the traffic conditions, local terrain, also impact the plant diversity and composition of home gardens.ConclusionIn remote areas such as the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, the plants in home gardens are important sources of plant products such as foods, herbal medicines, and fibers to support daily lives. The local home gardens in Tsang-la communities had high diversity of plants, and these plants provided many functions and services to support daily lives of local people. Local plant knowledge, including the features, life forms, habits, habitats, and use values of plants, were the summary of the understanding of local people to their surrounding plant worlds. Local people selected appropriate plants to cultivate and manage in their home gardens under the guidance of the local plant knowledge. That is the answer to the question “why local people selected these plants?”

Medicinal plants in homegardens of four ethnic groups in Thailand

Ethnopharmacological relevanceHomegardens are important habitats for medicinal plants and traditional knowledge, especially among indigenous groups in remote areas. In homegardens, medicinal plants and traditional knowledge are well conserved through human management and ease of access. Aim of the studyTo understand the drivers of diversity and the composition of homegardens with focus on medicinal plants, including exotic species, and their uses. We compare the homegardens of four ethnic groups in northern Thailand (Thai Yuan, Lahu, Karen, and Lisu). MethodsWe inventoried all medicinal species in 195 homegardens from four villages belonging to the four ethnic groups. The owners were asked to point out all useful species in their homegardens. For any medicinal species, they were then interviewed about their main and secondary uses, medicinal properties, plant part used, preparation methods, and route of administrations. ResultsWe recorded 95 medicinal homegarden plant species ranging from 20–59 species per village and ethnic group. Most of the medicinal plants had a primary use as food plants, which demonstrated the close relationship between local food and medicine in the lives of these ethnic groups. Many of the medicinal plants were also used as food additives, ornamentals, or materials, showing that medicinal plants are not an exclusive category in the homegardens. The number of homegarden plants varied almost four-fold from 58 species in one village to 211 in the most species rich village. The number of medicinal homegarden plants varied accordingly from 20 to 59 in the poorest and the richest villages. Five medicinal species were found in all villages, but 70% of the medicinal plants were found in only one village. Infection & infestation, Nutritional disorders, and Digestive system disorders were the three most important medicinal use categories for plants in the homegardens, and all three categories were found in most of the studied homegardens. Of the 95 species with medicinal uses, 26 (27%) were exotic, which shows that local people amplify the spectrum of alternative ways to treat their illnesses. ConclusionHomegardens are an important source of ethnomedicinal species and knowledge. These species are beneficial for treating acute and common ailments; they are easy to access and can be prepared by simple methods, which are suitable for treating disorders, such as infections or any digestive system ailments. Medicinal plants in homegardens have been important in improving health, at least, at the family level.

Soil quality and its relationship with weeds in urban homegardens of Alta Floresta, Southern Amazonia

Understanding the possible causes of differences in weed composition of homegardens is important to manage such environments and, thus, to control the propagation of weeds. One of the factors that could influence the differences in weed composition of homegardens is soil quality. Soil is a complex and dynamic component subject to change; adequate management is therefore indispensable. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between soil quality and weed species in 30 urban homegardens in Southern Amazonia. We collected samples of the soil seed bank of weeds, calculated quantitative indices of these weed species, and performed an analysis of soil variables (pH, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, aluminum, hydrogen, organic matter, sum basis, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, and soil texture). We conducted a principal components analysis to condense the information contained in the soil variables in a small group of new dimensional compositions, a detrended correspondence analysis to investigate the floristic gradients, and a redundancy analysis to model the influence of soil variables on variation in weed spectrum. The soils under the studied urban homegardens showed a chemical quality mostly above the desired minimum of macronutrients, pH, and base saturation. Based on the correlation between the presence of weeds and the physico-chemical quality of the soil, we must recognize that we are still far from obtaining a satisfactory model that can explain the composition of weeds and their relation with soil fertility in urban homegardens.

Land characteristics and plant resources in relation to agricultural land-use planning in a humid tropical strand plain, southeastern Thailand

Recently in humid tropical Asia, human activities have begun to extend toward the coastal lowland areas where widespread peat swamps are distributed. Draining peat swamp areas for agricultural uses creates a high risk of sulfuric acidification. The research site in this paper was a strand plain comprising beach ridges, swales on inter-ridges, and peaty backswamps in southeast Thailand. Thus, the actual and potential acid sulfate soil in the peaty backswamps is a major problem there, but sandy podzols on older beach ridges are also considered an agricultural problem soil. To establish an agricultural landscape plan encompassing the whole of the strand plain, we studied the land characteristics associated with the landforms and soils, their spatial variability related to landscape evolution, and the status of present plant resources in terms of biomass and species diversity for local farmers on peaty backswamps and beach ridges. We found that all spatial attributes of the two soils, such as the locations, profiles, and chemical and physical properties, were closely related to the geomorphic formation process or chronosequence: the landward or older backswamp has ripe clay and the seaward or younger one partly has unripe clay; the degree of spodic horizon development with ortstein is highest in the most landward beach-ridge system and decreases seaward; and the profile positions of the spodic horizons were related to the fluctuations of marine sand sediments, as revealed in a fine-scale survey. Finding these spatial regularities is useful for predicting land characteristics in areas outside of detailed research sites, reducing time and cost as well as forming the basis of landscape planning. Plant resources presently utilized by local farmers on the strand plain are Melaleuca cajuputi forests on both the peaty backswamps and the beach ridges, and home gardens of tropical fruit trees around settlements. Ecological carrying capacity in terms of biomass of M. cajuputi was not significantly different among soil types in the strand plain, but the growth rate and potential biomass of the species appears to be highest in thick, water-saturated peaty backswamps with acid sulfate soils. By comparing the species composition of home gardens in different areas, we found that on the beach ridges, although the ecological carrying capacity in terms of biomass for several types of fruit trees appears lower, a great number of species particular to the shrub layer are maintained. Based on the spatial variability of land characteristics and the ecological carrying capacity in terms of biomass, we identified separate land units and suggested future land-management and land-use systems appropriate to each unit.