Plants In Homegardens Research Articles

Preliminary Survey on Plants in Home Gardens in Pahang, Malaysia

This preliminary survey was carried out on home gardens in Pahang, Malaysia in order to gain better insights into the trends in plant utilization and species diversity among households in the state. The survey was carried out through observation of the home gardens and semi-structured interviews with their owners. A total of 93 species of plants were encountered in thirteen home gardens. Most of the species were food plants with Cocos nucifera and Mangifera indica being the most common among the home gardens. The presence of medicinal plant Eurycoma longifolia in one the home gardens indicates that the species is being domesticated.

Plant use and management in homegardens and swiddens: evidence from the Bolivian Amazon

Amazonian plant management is perhaps nowhere as intense as in homegardens and swiddens. A quantitative ethnobotanical study was conducted in Indigenous Territory and National Park Isiboro-Secure, Bolivia, to investigate plant use and management in homegardens and swiddens by local Yuracare and Trinitario ethnic groups. Ethnobotanical data of plants were obtained from 11 Yuracare and 11 Trinitario participants through semistructured interviews. A total of 151 different cultivated or tolerated species was recorded, accounting for 21% of all inventoried plants considered useful to local Yuracares and Trinitarios. The local use value of managed plants is almost twice that of wild plants. Managed plants score particularly higher than wild plants for medicinal, food and material applications. Most managed plants are herbs, followed by trees and shrubs. Nevertheless, managed trees have significantly higher overall use values than all other life forms. Managed trees tend to be particularly more appreciated as sources of food and materials, whereas herbaceous plants generally have a higher therapeutic value. Our results support observations made in literature that moderately humanized landscapes, and homegardens and swiddens in particular, are an important source of food and healing for forest people. Although people generally start managing plants in homegardens and swiddens because of their perceived usefulness, they are also favourable locations to experiment with the usefulness of (managed or wild) plants prevailing there. This particularly accounts for medicinal plants and it is argued that the use of managed plants in traditional medicine relates to (1) the high intensity of contact with theses species, and (2) their chemical defence strategy. To conclude, a number of policy recommendations are presented.

Cultivation and of Useful Plants in Homegardens in Sumatra Island

Cultivation and of Useful Plants in Homegardens in Sumatra Island

Cultivation and Utilization of Useful Plants in Homegardens in Java Island

Cultivation and Utilization of Useful Plants in Homegardens in Java Island

First Report of Pepper veinal mottle virus Associated with Mosaic and Mottle Diseases of Tomato and Pepper in Mali.

The aphid-transmitted Pepper veinal mottle virus (PVMV; genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) has been reported as causing an epidemic in solanaceous crops, including eggplant, pepper, and tomato in Africa (4). In West Africa, PVMV has been detected in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria (2). In April 2009, leaf yellowing, mosaic, mottle, and curling symptoms indicative of viral infection were common on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum annuum) plants in home gardens and fields in Mali. Symptomatic leaf samples were collected from two sweet pepper and two tomato plants from Baguineda, four tomato plants and one chili pepper plant in Kati, and three chili pepper plants from Samanko. All samples except two chili pepper from Samanko and two sweet pepper and two tomato from Baguineda tested positive for begomovirus by PCR with primers PAL1v1978/PAR1c715 (3). PVMV was detected by double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA using PVMV antibody (DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany) in both Baguineda sweet pepper, one Baguineda tomato, and one Samanko chili pepper sample. Three PVMV ELISA-positive samples, one each of sweet pepper, chili pepper, and tomato, were also confirmed by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and sequencing. The expected 1.8-kb viral cDNA was amplified from all three samples using the potyvirus general primer Sprimer1 (5'-GGNAAYAAYAGHGGNCARCC-3'), which was modified from the Sprimer (1) as upstream primer, and Oligo(dT) (5'-GCGGGATCCCTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT-3') as downstream primer. The sequences obtained from chili pepper (GenBank Accession No. GQ918274), sweet pepper (GenBank Accession No. GQ918275), and tomato (GenBank Accession No. GQ918276) isolates, excluding the 3' poly-A tails, were each 1,831 nucleotides (nt) long, comprising the 3'-terminal of the NIb region (1 to 642 nt), the coat protein region (643 to 1,455 nt), and the 3'-untranslated region (1,456 to 1,831 nt). The sequences shared between 99.3 and 99.5% nucleotide identity with each other. A comparison of these sequences with corresponding sequences of potyviruses in GenBank revealed they had greatest nucleotide identity (96.5 to 96.6%) with a tomato isolate of PVMV from Taiwan (PVMV-TW; GenBank Accession No. EU719647), between 81.4 and 95.9% identity with other PVMV isolates, and only as much as 67.2% identity with other potyvirus isolates. Analysis of coat protein regions alone also revealed high nucleotide (96.6 to 96.8%) and amino acid (99.3 to 99.6%) identity with PVMV-TW. The PVMV Baguineda tomato isolate caused mosaic and mottle symptoms on tomato (line CLN1558A) and pepper (cv. Early Calwonder) plants following mechanical inoculation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of PVMV infecting plants in Mali and reinforces the need to take this virus into consideration when breeding tomato and pepper for this region.

Detection and characterisation of a begomovirus associated with leaf curl disease of ornamental croton (Codiaeum variegatum)

SummaryA leaf curl disease was observed on croton (Codiaeum variegatum L.), a popular ornamental plant in botanical, home, and office gardens in and around Bengaluru, South India. Diseased plants showed typical symptoms of vein thickening, severe inward curling and a reduction in leaf size, and stunting. The pathogen responsible was transmitted to healthy croton plants by grafting of infected scions, and through the whitefly vector, Bemisia tabaci, suggesting that the disease was caused by a begomovirus. The association of a begomovirus with the disease was further confirmed by the amplification of viral DNA fragments of ca. 520 bp and 575 bp derived from the coat protein (CP) gene of DNA-A using degenerate primers and total DNA extracted from infected, but not from healthy croton plants. The 575 bp fragment corresponding to the core region of the CP gene was cloned and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis of the core CP sequence grouped the croton-infecting begomovirus, which we tentatively called croton leaf curl virus (CrLCuV), with Ageratum yellow vein virus (AJ810825), with which it shared the highest nucleotide identity (95%). The core CP sequence was similar (90 – 95%) to many other begomoviruses from the Indian sub-continent that infect tomato, tobacco, cotton, and papaya. Thus, its precise taxonomic denomination will require sequencing of the complete ssDNA viral genome.

The present state of RDB plants in home gardens in Southwest Japan

The present state of RDB plants in home gardens in Southwest Japan

Birch tar oil is an effective mollusc repellent: field and laboratory experiments using Arianta arbustorum (Gastropoda: Helicidae) and Arion lusitanicus (Gastropoda: Arionidae)

Populations of two molluscs, the land snail Arianta arbustorum and the Iberian slug Arion lusitanicus, have increased substantially in many places in the northern Fennoscandia in recent years. This has resulted in considerable aesthetic and economic damage to plants in home gardens and commercial nurseries. Birch tar oil (BTO), is a new biological plant protection product, and was tested against these molluscs. In this study we examined whether 2 types of BTO, used either alone, mixed together, or mixed with Vaseline®, could be applied as 1) a biological plant protection product for the control of land snails by direct topical spray application, 2) as a repellent against snails when painted on a Perspex® fence, and 3) as a repellent against slugs when smeared on pots containing Brassica pekinensis seedlings. Both the fences and the pots with seedlings were placed in each field with a high population of the target organism. When applied as a spray on snails, BTO did not act as a toxic pesticide but rendered the snails inactive for a period of several months. The BTO barriers were effective in repelling both snails and slugs. However, the repellent effect of BTO alone against the molluscs was short-term. Repeated treatments were required to keep the slugs away from the plants and we found that the interval between treatments should not exceed two weeks. A collar fastened around the rim of the pots, combined with the BTO treatment, did not give any additional benefit in hindering slugs from invading the plants. Most noticeably, the BTO+Vaseline® mixture prevented the land snails from passing over the treated fences for up to several months. The results of these experiments provide evidence that BTO, especially when mixed with Vaseline®, serves as an excellent long-term repellent against molluscs.;

Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants at periodic markets of Honghe Prefecture in Yunnan Province, SW China

In China, traditional markets are considered as important places for trading of medicinal plants harvested by rural villagers, which also play a social role of exchanging traditional use of herbal medicine among different cultural and social groups at local level. Market survey is often engaged in ethnobotanical studies for documenting locally used herbal plants and associated traditional knowledge. Information collected from market survey is also useful for plant conservation in the habitat areas. However, information on the market traded medicinal plants is not well documented from traditional markets in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan. The study aimed to look into medicinal plants that are used by local people for curing various ailments. Ethnobotanical market survey methods, interviews, Participatory Action Research (PAR) and field visits were planned to elicit information on the uses of various medicinal plants. It was found that 216 plant species are commonly used by local people for curing various diseases, of which 173 species (80.1%) are wild plants and 43 species (19.9%) are home garden plants. A total of 278 records of medical uses in 60 herbal recipes for the treatment of 16 types of common diseases were recorded. In most of the recipes recorded, digestion diseases (30.6%) were used. The rest are rheumatological diseases (13.0%), respiratory system diseases (10.4%), infectious diseases (7.9%) and surgery uses (7.9%). The knowledge about the number of medicinal plants available in that area and used by interviewees was positively correlated with the threats on medicinal plants in the wild habitats of the study area, indicating that the diversity of medicinal plants and the associated traditional knowledge trends to disappear in the area.

The Influence Of Socio-Economic Factors On The Level Of Knowledge, Domestication And Retention Of Medicinal Plants: The Case Of Duru-Haitemba Villages, Babati District, Tanzania

In developing countries, the majority of local people rely largely on medicinal plants to treat common diseases. This reliance is due to a number of reasons among which economic and cultural backgrounds play important role. This study carried out using PRA and household surveys in 45 randomly selected households from four villages around Duru-Haitemba village forest in Babati, Tanzania. The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of socio-economic factors on the level of knowledge of ethnomedicinal plants, domestication and retention of medicinal plants in home gardens. Socio-economic factors investigated include education level, gender, age, religion, income level and distance to the forest. Among these factors, religion and income level were found to influence significantly the level of knowledge of medicinal plants and domestication efforts. The study argues that medicinal plants are of critical importance in the livelihoods of local people particularly poor households and therefore adequate actions should be taken to preserve them. TJFNC Vol. 76 2007: pp. 59-66

Eryngium caucasicum Trautv. cultivated as a vegetable in the Elburz Mountains (Northern Iran)

Eryngium caucasicum was found as a new cultivated vegetable plant in home gardens in northern Iran. Young leaves are used as a cooked vegetable and for flavouring in the preparation of several local foods.

Home Gardens in Amazonian Peru: Diversity and Exchange of Planting Material

This article examines how peasant farmers build and maintain agrobiodiversity in home gardens found in two traditional peasant communities along the Marañón River in the Peruvian Amazon. Data were gathered through household and garden surveys as well as in‐depth interviews with garden tenders in an upland mixed agricultural village and a lowland fishing village. Substantial variations in cultivated plant diversity were encountered in gardens between and within the villages, which are found to be related to differential exchange of seeds, cuttings, suckers, and other planting material as well as to specific garden and household characteristics. Planting material flows along multiple pathways—from gift giving and purchase to inheritance and scavenging—to the gardens, reflecting a complex and often extensive network of exchange that enables the establishment and maintenance of home garden plant diversity in seemingly isolated and small communities. Further research is needed to identify broader geographical and sociocultural patterns of agrobiodiversity in Amazonia.

Plant species diversity of homegardens of Cuba and its significance for household food supply

The cultivation of different plants in homegardens for self-sufficiency has a long tradition in Cuba, but knowledge about homegardens in Cuba is small. To analyse this more deeply, cultivated plants of 31 homegardens were surveyed in three villages in eastern Cuba in 2001. Two of the study villages were located in a humid area with an annual precipitation of about 2200 mm. The third village was situated in a semiarid area with about 450 mm precipitation. The plants studied in the homegardens included those for human consumption such as fruits, vegetables, tubers and cereals as well as spices and medicinal plants. In total, 101 different plant species were found with an average number of 18 to 24 species per homegarden for the three villages. A broad range of species was found in all villages, because irrigation is used under semiarid conditions, which lead to a relative high similarity in species composition between the villages. But, also differences due to the climatic situation became evident, particularly with the medicinal plants. In general, homegarden production provided a broad and diverse basis for self-sufficiency of the households. Although homegarden production showed to be only a small source of income, it is particularly important because of low-paid outside work and minimal food provision of the state.

Vegetation characteristics of Bangladesh homegardens

A total of 162 perennial species were recorded from the 100 homegardens surveyed in four regions of Bangladesh. The highest number of species was recorded from the deltaic region (91) followed by the plain (79), hilly(73) and the dryland (65) regions, respectively. Species density declined with increasing homegarden size in each region. Within each region food and fruit producing species dominated in the homegardens. Between any two regions more than 50% of the species was common. Nine general uses (food/fruit, timber, fuelwood, spice, fodder, medicine,fence, agricultural implement, others) of homegarden plants were identified.

TRADITIONAL USES OF PERENNIAL HOMESTEAD GARDEN PLANTS IN BANGLADESH

ABSTRACT Traditional uses of perennial homestead garden (homegarden) plants in four physiographic regions of Bangladesh (Deltaic, Dry land. Hilly and Plain) were explored using different Participatory Rural Appraisal tools (transect walk, participatory vegetation survey, open-ended interview). A total of 120 perennial species were recorded from 200 homegardens surveyed in the four regions; i.e., from 50 homegardens randomly selected from one village in each region. Twenty-four traditional uses of the 120 plant species were documented of which seven were in the primary use category and 17 were secondary uses. Edible species represented the largest proportion of the seven primary use categories (35%), followed by medicinal (26%), construction material (17%), household (16%), spices (3%), craft (2%) and live fence (2%) uses, respectively. Eighty-four species had more than one use. The highest number of uses recorded for a given species was seven (Mangifera indica). Fifty-seven species were common to all regions and these were ranked according to their Relative Importance Values (RIV). The mean ranking of the common species, based on RIV across all the four regions, indicated that Cocos nucifera was the most preferred species followed by the M. indica and Ziziphus mauratiana, respectively. The wide range of uses of homegarden plants indicates that Bangladesh farmers possess and nurture a rich heritage of such traditions, and reflects the importance of conserving them.

The comparative value of wild and domestic plants in home gardens of a South African rural village

Rural inhabitants make considerable use of wild resources from communal areas around their settlements, as well as from arable and residential plots. These wild resources compete with the main crops planted in arable plots and home gardens, but play a significant economic and nutritional role in rural livelihoods. This paper reports upon a conservative financial evaluation of the wild plant resources harvested from home gardens and arable plots by inhabitants of rural village in the Bushbuckridge lowveld (South Africa), and examines their importance relative to other domesticated crops. On average, each household made use of four to five species of wild plants growing on their residential plot, whereas the mean number of crop plants was 3.4. The total value of all plants was R1694 (US$ 269) per household per year, or approximately R4200 (US$ 667) per hectare of home garden per year. Wild plants represented 31% of the value of all plants grown on residential plots, relative to the 69% for domesticated crops (including fruit trees). Approximately 72% of the total value of all plant products was consumed by the household, and the remaining 28% was sold.

Species composition, diversity, and use of homegardens among three Amazonian villages

Homegardens represent a traditional form of land use common in tropical regions of the world. Species composition, structure and function of homegardens may be influenced by ecological, socio-economic and cultural factors. The three villages in the Peruvian Amazon in which homegardens were studied differed in terms of cultural background, distance to urban markets and the influence of tourism. Data were collected on species composition, abundance and use of plants in the homegardens. Comparison of the three villages revealed that tourism had the greatest impact on species composition, diversity and use of plants in homegardens.

First Report of Pestalotiopsis guepini on Loquat in Argentina

Loquat, Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl., is used as an ornamental plant in home gardens in the La Plata area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. During spring 1998, loquat branches with spotted leaves and fruits were submitted to the Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Symptoms on leaves consisted of small (2 to 5 mm in diameter), circular to oblong, greenish brown lesions that expanded to amphigenous, isolated, or confluent, dark brown spots. On fruits the disease appeared as circular to elongated, sunken spots. Advancing lesions spread over the surface resulting in the death of the fruit. Acervuli were observed within lesions. Isolations from symptomatic tissue onto acidified potato dextrose agar medium consistently yielded white fungal colonies of sparse aerial mycelium with acervuli containing black, slimy spore masses. The fungus was initially identified as Pestalotiopsis guepini (Desmaz.) Steyaert based on conidial and cultural characteristics (1), and the identification was confirmed by Institute Spegazzini, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argen-tina. Loquat branches with fruit and 3- to 6-month-old loquat plants were mechanically injured and sprayed with a conidial suspension of one of the P. guepini isolates (4.5 × 105 per ml). Plants were incubated in a moist chamber for 48 h and then maintained in a greenhouse. After 6 days, lesions similar to the original symptoms were observed on the inoculated plant and P. guepini was reisolated, confirming Koch's postulates. Control plants sprayed with distilled water remained symptomless. This is the first report of P. guepini causing leaf and fruit spots on loquat in Argentina. Reference: (1) J. B. H. J. Desmazières. Ann. Sci. Nat. Ser. 2. 13:181, 1840.

Plant Resources of the Traditional Homegardens in Bangladesh

A vegetation survey in four regions (Deltaic, Dryland, Hilly and Plain) in Bangladesh was conducted over a period of 10 months from July 1992 to April 1993. Eighty homegardens (20 from each of the four regions) were assessed in terms of composition, dominance and uses of the perennial species. In total ninety-two perennial species were recorded for the set of 80 homegardens surveyed. From gardens in the Deltaic region 67 species were recorded. Corresponding figures were 56 for the Plain region, 54 for the Hilly region and 46 for the Dryland region. Species composition pattern indicated higher proportion of food and fruit producing species and the first five dominant species with the highest relative importance values were the fruit trees. Eight major uses of the homegarden plants were recorded.

Prevalence of Natural Fungal Mortality of Green Peach Aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) on Potatoes and Nonsolanaceous Hosts in Washington and Idaho

Green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Selzer), populations were monitored and examined for pathogens at Moscow and Troy, ID, in 1991 and near Yakima, WA, in 1991–1992. M. persicae infesting a peach orchard, broadleaf weeds within and around the periphery of the orchard, and nearby potato fields near Yakima were observed from March until November. Potatoes and nonsolanaceous plants in home gardens in Moscow and Troy also were monitored for M. persicae and examined for pathogens during the growing season. In 1991, aphid numbers reached a maximum of 6,070 per 5–15-cm peach twig segments on 29 May but only nine per 15–0.15-m twig segments in 1992. Fungal pathogen activity was barely discemable on tree-borne aphids in the orchard but was observed more frequently from aphids infesting weeds beneath the trees. An epizootic of Entomophthorales occurred on aphids infesting solanaceous (potatoes) and nonsolanaceous hosts in home gardens in Moscow and Troy, (Latah County), Idaho, in 1991. Verticillium lecanii (Zimmerman) Viegas was identified from M. persicae on peach leaves; Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuillemin and Conidiobolus sp. were identified from aphids on potatoes. Aphids collected from weeds growing in and near the peach orchard were infected with Entomophthora chromaphidis Cornu, Conidiobolus coronatus (Constantin) Batko, C. obscurus (Petch) Hall & Dunn, and V. lecanii. Aphids on potatoes and nonsolanaceous hosts at Moscow and Troy were infected with Pandora neoaphidis (Remaudiere & Hennebert) Humber, E. chromaphidis , and Conidiobolus spp. Aphid populations were much lower in 1992 both within the orchard and in potatoes.