Vol. 10, Special Issue 10 (2021)

Author(s):
Shahbaz Noori, SS Inamati and Vasudeva R

Abstract:
Traditional homegardens (HGs) harbor a high level of species diversity and are characterized as sustainable agroecosystem, suitable for on-farm conservation of plant genetic resources. The Western Ghats of India is considered the centre of origin for many tropical fruit trees and serves as a prime habitat for in-situ conservation of long lived, largely out-crossed wild/domesticated Tropical Fruit Tree (TFT) species. This study characterizes diversity homegardens of Uttara Kannada district. Sixty-one species were documented. The homegardens of Uttara Kannada district showed predominant presence of Cocus nucifera (n=4373), followed by Mangifera indica (n=816), Artocarpus heterophyllus (n=913), Citrus limon (n=308) and Anacardium occidentale (n=374). The Uttara Kannada district documented substantially a higher species richness yet noticed a gradual replacement with exotic cash crops due to homegarden size and topographic environment. This district documented a little more than fifty percent of non-native tropical fruit tree (TFT) species. Thus, importance of homegardens to food security and the autonomy of families in Western Ghats indicate that public policies should be designed to stimulate more diverse production systems in Uttara Kannada district.