Agrobiodiversity in Northeast India: A Review …
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units of agrobiodiversity and the custodians of seed banks of a large number of horticultural/fruit/tuber crops, and they often provide significant economic benefits to
marginal farmers. Home gardens not only maintain but also sustainably improve crop
diversity, thus making these extremely significant areas for the use and conservation
of agrobiodiversity.
6 Agrobiodiversity Management in the Traditional
Homegardens (Case Studies)
6.1 Dorgakona Village in Barak Valley of Cachar District,
NorthEast India
In a study of 50 homegardens of tea garden labour community from Dorgakona village in Barak Valley of Cachar district, northeast India by Das and Das (2005) a total
of 122 trees and shrubs have so far been identified in the homegardens with 87 tree
species. Average number of species per homegarden varies with the size of the homegardens. In smaller homegardens, the lowest of eight species were recorded, with
more dominance of fruit trees with multiple uses such as Artocarpus heterophyllus,
Mangifera indica, Musa sp. etc. In larger homegardens, a maximum of 39 species
were recorded and are important sites for the conservation of wild/rare species like
Aquilaria malaccensis, Vatica lanceaefolia, etc. besides other fruit and timber trees.
The homegarden size and diversity were found to be related to the socio-economic
conditions of the families that maintain them. Poorer families with no or less paddy
land holdings had smaller homegardens and therefore less diversity. On the other
hand, tea garden labourers with larger families and more earning members had larger
homegardens (0.13–0.53 ha). The species relative importance values (RIV; Table 2)
show that the most dominant components in homegardens were A. catechu (52.7%),
Musa sp. (22.2%), A. heterophyllus (9.4%) and M. indica (9.3%). Other important
species of homegardens include T. ciliata, Psidium guajava, Carica papaya, Citrus
maxima and Cocos nucifera. The species that have multiple uses as well as commercial importance showed higher RIV due to higher prevalence in homegardens. Eight
major plant use categories were identified in the homegardens. Figure 6 shows the
mean number of species in each use category per homegarden with the dominant one
being the fruit category, followed by timber and miscellaneous. The fruit trees were
dominated by Artocarpus heterophyllus and Mangifera indica. In the timber category
the most dominant were Toona ciliata and Syzygium cuminii. In addition to providing
food some fruit trees are multipurpose and play an important role in festivals and rituals. An important characteristic of the homegardens was the predominance of indigenous fruit trees. Among the fruit trees importance is given to Artocarpus heterophyllus
and Mangifera indica. The villagers cultivate different varieties of Artocarpus heterophyllus and Musa sp. Besides the common fruit trees, the villagers also greatly value
certain wild/lesser known fruit trees, such as Artocarpus chama, Artocarpus lacucha,
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units of agrobiodiversity and the custodians of seed banks of a large number of horticultural/fruit/tuber crops, and they often provide significant economic benefits to
marginal farmers. Home gardens not only maintain but also sustainably improve crop
diversity, thus making these extremely significant areas for the use and conservation
of agrobiodiversity.
6 Agrobiodiversity Management in the Traditional
Homegardens (Case Studies)
6.1 Dorgakona Village in Barak Valley of Cachar District,
NorthEast India
In a study of 50 homegardens of tea garden labour community from Dorgakona village in Barak Valley of Cachar district, northeast India by Das and Das (2005) a total
of 122 trees and shrubs have so far been identified in the homegardens with 87 tree
species. Average number of species per homegarden varies with the size of the homegardens. In smaller homegardens, the lowest of eight species were recorded, with
more dominance of fruit trees with multiple uses such as Artocarpus heterophyllus,
Mangifera indica, Musa sp. etc. In larger homegardens, a maximum of 39 species
were recorded and are important sites for the conservation of wild/rare species like
Aquilaria malaccensis, Vatica lanceaefolia, etc. besides other fruit and timber trees.
The homegarden size and diversity were found to be related to the socio-economic
conditions of the families that maintain them. Poorer families with no or less paddy
land holdings had smaller homegardens and therefore less diversity. On the other
hand, tea garden labourers with larger families and more earning members had larger
homegardens (0.13–0.53 ha). The species relative importance values (RIV; Table 2)
show that the most dominant components in homegardens were A. catechu (52.7%),
Musa sp. (22.2%), A. heterophyllus (9.4%) and M. indica (9.3%). Other important
species of homegardens include T. ciliata, Psidium guajava, Carica papaya, Citrus
maxima and Cocos nucifera. The species that have multiple uses as well as commercial importance showed higher RIV due to higher prevalence in homegardens. Eight
major plant use categories were identified in the homegardens. Figure 6 shows the
mean number of species in each use category per homegarden with the dominant one
being the fruit category, followed by timber and miscellaneous. The fruit trees were
dominated by Artocarpus heterophyllus and Mangifera indica. In the timber category
the most dominant were Toona ciliata and Syzygium cuminii. In addition to providing
food some fruit trees are multipurpose and play an important role in festivals and rituals. An important characteristic of the homegardens was the predominance of indigenous fruit trees. Among the fruit trees importance is given to Artocarpus heterophyllus
and Mangifera indica. The villagers cultivate different varieties of Artocarpus heterophyllus and Musa sp. Besides the common fruit trees, the villagers also greatly value
certain wild/lesser known fruit trees, such as Artocarpus chama, Artocarpus lacucha,