Morphological diversity and ethnobotanical study of ENSET (ensete ventricosum (welw ) cheesman) landraces in kebena, cheha and ezha woredas, gurage zone, SPNNRS, ethiopia

Morphological Diversity and Ethnobotanical Study of ENSET(Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) Landraces in Kebena, Cheha and Ezha Woredas, Gurage Zone, SPNNRS, Ethiopia Adanech Jarso Mojo Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa, Ethiopia June, 2017 Morphological Diversity and Ethnobotanical Study of ENSET (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman )Landraces in Kebena, Cheha and Ezha Woredas, Gurage Zone, SPNNRS, Ethiopia Adanech Jarso Mojo A Thesis Submitted to The Department of plant Biology and Biodiversity Management Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa, Ethiopia June, 2017 ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE PROGRAMMES This is to certify that the Thesis prepared by Adanech Jarso Mojo, entitled: Morphological diversity and Ethnobotanical Study of ENSET (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) Landrace in Kebena, Cheha and Ezha Woredas, Gurage zone, Ethiopia and Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management)complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality Signed by Examining Board Name Signature Prof.Zemede Asfaw (Examiner) prof Sileshi Nemomsa (Examiner) (Examiner) Prof Sebsebe Demissew (Advisor) Dr Tigist Wondimu (Advisor) Dr Ermias (Chairman) ii Date Abstract Morphological Diversity and Ethnobotanical Study of ENSET (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.)Cheesman ) landraces in Kebena Cheha and Ezha Woredas, Gurage Zone, Ethiopia Adanech Jarso Mojo, MSc Thesis Addis Ababa University, May 2017 Ensete ventricosum is a perennial, banana-like crop, indigenous to Ethiopia It is an important food crop consumed in the form of Bulla, Kocho, and Amicho Besides, it used as animal feed, as well as source of medicine and fibber This study was undertaken on the ethnobotanical use of ENSET landraces and to identify variability of the morphological traits among the landraces The study was carried out in purposively selected ten kebeles of three districts in Gurage Zone A total of 100 (20 purposively selected key informants and 80 randomly selected general informants) were interviewed using semi-structured interview; field observation and guided field walk were also used to collect ethnobotanical data Morphological traits were measured according the IBPGR (International Board for Plant Genetic Resources) descriptors for ENSET The data were analyzed by using computer software R v 3.2.2 and SPSS v 16.0 as well as Excel 2010 spread sheet Direct matrix ranking and preference ranking were also used to analyze the ethnobotanical information A total of 33 ENSET landraces were identified from the study area Farmers give the name for their landraces based on morphological trait and sources of planting material Identified landraces were grouped in to five clusters based on Morphological trait variability Mean plant height, pseudostem height and circumference, leaf size and number have significant difference (p