Characterization of Soil Conditions for Wild Edible Plants’ Habitats in Semi-Arid Areas of Uganda
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IJAIR
Abstract
Wild edible plants are known to supplement
farm crops in rural African households, especially during
famine periods. In Uganda, conservation of such plants is at
stake. Their habitats are continuously being degraded or
converted to other land uses. Assessment of soils on
agriculture land is common, but limited for wild edible
plants’ habitats. A study was done to characterize and
compare soil physical and chemical properties of wild edible
plants’ habitats and farmers’ gardens for the purpose of
assessing the potential for cultivation of the plants on the
gardens. Soils 0-20 cm and 30-50 cm deep were randomly
sampled from the rhizosphere of the selected plants and from
gardens of farmers. Soil samples were analyzed using
published standard procedures. Fisher’s test was used to
compare the soil conditions of the wild edible plants’ habitats
for homogeneity, Pearson’s correlation coefficient to find
association between the plants occurrence and their habitats
soil conditions, and ANOVA to establish differences between
the soil properties of the wild edible plants’ habitats and
farmers’ gardens. The soil physical and chemical conditions
of the different habitats where the wild edible plants
naturally grow were similar (p>0.05), highly associated with
the plants’ occurrence(r>0.5) and significantly more fertile
(p<0.05) than farmers’ gardens. On-farm establishment of
the wild edible plants could require soil amendment.
Description
Keywords
Conservation, Food Plants, Spontaneously Growing, On-Farm, Soil Properties
Citation
Kyakuwaire, M., Ochwoh, V., Kakudidi, E., & Tumuhairwe, J. (2015). Characterization of soil conditions for wild edible plants’ habitats in semi-arid areas of Uganda. IJAIR, 3(6), 2319-2323.