ABSTRACT

With the ravages of deforestation, Aframomum melegueta (grains of paradise) is gradually getting extinct, despite its potential for consumption and trade. This study sought to find out land uses in off-reserve tree farms capable of providing the optimum conditions for the production of grains of paradise. The Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications was used to lay the plots and the treatments examined were cocoa, oil palm, and fallow land uses. Also, the ethnobotanical knowledge of farmers was studied by purposively sampling a total of 30 Aframomum melegueta farmers. The results showed no significant (P > .05) difference for the number of pods, fresh weight, and yield of Aframomum melegueta per hectare among the different land uses. On the other hand, the average pod length significantly differed (P < .05) between land uses (cocoa, oil palm, and fallow). The majority of farmers (21%) use Aframomum melegueta for the treatment of stroke. Gender and education of farmers did not play a significant role in sources of collection and land use preference of Aframomum melegueta respectively. The major challenge confronting the cultivation of Aframomum melegueta was the lack of an external market (33.3%). The majority of farmers preferred fallow land (73.9%) for the cultivation of Aframomum melegueta. The cultivation of Aframomum melegueta in off-reserve tree farms could help increase the quantity produced and thus improve the livelihood of farmers. Farmers are encouraged to plant the species on their cocoa farms, oil palm farms, and fallow lands.

摘要

随着森林砍伐的肆虐，Aframomum melegueta（天堂谷）逐渐灭绝，尽管它具有消费和贸易潜力。本研究旨在找出能够为生产天堂谷物提供最佳条件的非保护区林场的土地利用。使用具有三个重复的完全随机设计 (CRD) 来铺设地块，检查的处理是可可、油棕和休耕土地利用。此外，通过有目的地对 30 名非洲豆蔻农民进行抽样研究，研究了农民的民族植物学知识。结果表明，非洲豆荚的豆荚数、鲜重和产量无显着性差异（ P > .05 ）不同土地用途之间的每公顷。另一方面，土地利用（可可、油棕和休耕）之间的平均豆荚长度存在显着差异（ P < .05）。大多数农民（21%）使用非洲豆蔻治疗中风。农民的性别和教育分别对非洲豆的采集来源和土地利用偏好没有显着影响。非洲豆蔻种植面临的主要挑战是缺乏外部市场（33.3%）。大多数农民喜欢休耕地（73.9%）种植非洲豆蔻。非洲豆蔻的栽培在保护区外的林场可以帮助增加产量，从而改善农民的生计。鼓励农民在他们的可可农场、油棕农场和休耕地种植该物种。