424259

Assessment of Plant Species Diversity and Benefits of Agroforestry Homegardens in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria

Article

Last updated: 04 May 2025

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Tags

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Abstract

A field survey was conducted to assess plant species diversity of homegarden agroforestry system and its benefits to household in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria. A multi stage sampling technique was used to select eighty households for data collection. Descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, frequency distribution and table were used to analyze the data. A total of 72 plant species (40 woody and 32 herbaceous), belonging to 38 families were recorded. Fabaceae and Rutaceae were the most diverse among the woody species while in the herbaceous species, Solanaceae and Poaceae were the dominant families. Food production (89%) was the main benefit derived from the homegardens. Other benefits were shade (69%), medicinal and financial (68%), erosion control (24%) and beautification (43%). The result further revealed that homegarden practices pose some challenges. It was documented that 85% of the homegarden farmers have never been visited by extension agents. Agroforestry homegardens are hotspots for local plant species conservation. Some species recorded in the studied homegardens are in IUCN Red list as either vulnerable or near threatened. Adequate government initiative is vital to promote the development of the homegarden agroforestry system.

DOI

10.21608/eajbsh.2025.424259

Keywords

agroforestry, conservation, diversity, Homegarden, plant species

Authors

First Name

Koyejo,

Last Name

O.,

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Humid Forest Research Station, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.

Email

-

City

Nigeria

Orcid

-

First Name

Adetunji,

Last Name

A.

MiddleName

S.

Affiliation

RainForest Research Station, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.

Email

-

City

Nigeria

Orcid

-

First Name

Koyejo,

Last Name

A.

MiddleName

O.

Affiliation

Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

Email

-

City

Nigeria

Orcid

-

First Name

Nwachukwu

Last Name

Q.

MiddleName

J.

Affiliation

Humid Forest Research Station, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.

Email

-

City

Nigeria

Orcid

-

First Name

Okpara,

Last Name

G.

MiddleName

I.

Affiliation

Federal College of Forestry Resources Management, Ishiagu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

Email

-

City

Nigeria

Orcid

-

Volume

16

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

52822

Issue Date

2025-06-01

Receive Date

2025-02-07

Publish Date

2025-04-28

Page Start

53

Page End

67

Print ISSN

2090-3812

Online ISSN

2090-3820

Link

https://eajbsh.journals.ekb.eg/article_424259.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=424259

Order

424,259

Type

Original Article

Type Code

693

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, H. Botany

Publication Link

https://eajbsh.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Assessment of Plant Species Diversity and Benefits of Agroforestry Homegardens in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria

Details

Type

Article

Created At

27 Apr 2025