Agrobiodiversity of Homegardens in Myanmar

Su Myat Thwe

Master's thesis

Abstract:

This survey was conducted in 96 randomly selected homegardens across eight villages of Thegon Township under Pyay district situated in Bago division of Myanmar. The aims of the thesis were to assess species diversity for both cultivated and wild plants, to classify type of local homegardens and finally to document the ethnobotanical knowledge on useful plants and local management practices. Data were collected during August and September 2018, through structured questionnaires, plant inventory and direct observation. The survey was conducted in three main parts, i.e. household survey, vegetation survey and plant artefact interviews. Total number of 246 species from 70 botanical families were identified and the value of Shannon-Wiener index is ranging from 0.1 to 2 with an average value of 1.03. The best represented families with the highest number of species were Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rutaceae, Zingiberaceae, Apocynaceae and Asteraceae. There were 9 use categories for reported plant species such as food, environmental, medicine, social use, fuel, material, food additive, cosmetic, and effect of poison. The most dominant species were Tamarindus indica, Solanum melongena, Mangifera indica, Vigna unguiculata ssp. Sesquipedalis, Leucaena leucocephala, Cucumis sativus, Albizia lebbek, Citrus aurantiifolia, Mitragyna rotundifolia and Impatiens balsamina. We identified 63 species as ecologically important species while other species were mainly used for their food, culture and other purposes. In our study area, type and structure of local homegardens for all households was a combination of subsistence and market gardens with a various level of commercialization. There was a positive correlation between the number of plant species and homegarden size, natural vegetation, species diversity, and number of species commercialized. On the other hand, the homegarden age was correlated negatively with the plant diversity. Finally, our results showed that there were no significant environmental and management effects on species diversity. Most of the respondents managed homegardens both by chemical and biological control methods. While biological management methods were applied for most of the crops, agrochemicals were applied only for commercial crops to control pests, especially insects, and to improve the cash crop yields.

Keywords

Agrobiodiversity, homegardens, ethnobotany, useful plants, Myanmar

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 26. 4. 2019

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: doc. Ing. Zbyněk Polesný, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Tropical Crop Management and Ecology