Assessment of On-farm Diversity Status and Farmer’s Perception for Landraces Crops at Eastern Hararghe, Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia is centre of origin for crops such as sorghum, teff, coffee and enset and centre of diversity for many other crops (wheat, barley, Ethiopian mustard, chickpea lentils and finger millet). Similarly eastern Hararghe has diverse agro-ecology that shows diversity of many crops. So, a total of 15 land race crop species was identified with 36 accessions from 2 regions and 6woreda. From total 15 farmer variety of crop and 36 accession, sorghum are the highest accession and more cultivated in study area and it account 13 accession (36.1%). From the total survey of woreda, Qarsa is the most diverse crop species since it has a wide agro-ecology and holds ten crop species 66.7% of total crop in study area. Jarso is the second crop diversity in study area it hold eight crop species (53.3%). Sofi and Babile are the third crop diversity in study area it hold four crop species each (26.7%). Expansion of chat and replacement of modern variety in study area are the most loss of farmer variety it holds 45% and 40% respectively. Six farmer crop species in study area like Badu Oanyii, Shakoo, Bukuri, Minjar, Barley and wheat are threatened in study area due to Replacement of modern variety, no good test and low value market, birds’ interest, lack of fodder, weed and drought. Therefore, creating awareness for local farmers on how to manage the crop effectively (sowing, weeding, harvesting and storing) and conserve the landrace variety. More agricultural research should be conducted on the characters and requirement of the crops for various regions and environments to conserve landrace variety.