Accessing the Status of Homegarden and Its Functional Category in Itahari Sub-Metropolitan Municipality, Nepal

Abstract

Home garden, the name itself clarifies its meaning any garden that is belonging to home which can be anywhere at the front, behind, or in any fallow land. The reason why home garden and its diversity were studied is get access to the ethnobotanical study of the species and knowledge among people regarding the home garden could be more lighten up. A survey was conducted from October (2019) to January (2020). Among the surveyed fifty households, the type of home garden dominated was front type ranging from 45-700m2 whose management and diversity were changing as per the gender. Altogether of 108 species were collected in a home garden belonging to 45 families, 34 species were found to be common. The representative families Leguminosae and Asteraceae rank on top followed by Moraceae, Brassicaceae, Poaceae, and so on. Despite the result concluding the most diversified crops, the home garden of Sunsari district itself carries a wider range of diversity from fruits, vegetables, spices to economically useful species like ornamental plants and fodders. With the studies and knowledge accounted, it can be concluded that pursuing a home garden not only revalues our health and environment but also preserves a hundred ages of traditions.

Assessment of the Status of Rooftop Garden, Its Diversity, and Determinants of Urban Green Roofs in Nepal

“…The diversity profile of species classified in Table 8 shows that the overall Shannon weaver index was 3.58 and that of the flower was 3.12, the medicinal plant being the least. Shannon weaver diversity mostly ranges between 1.5 and 3.5; above 3.5 is mostly rare and is reported in the highly diverse ecosystems [ 20 , 30 ]. The details of the diversity profile are shown in Table 6 ; however, the evenness in species of medicinal plants is higher and that of overall species is the least.…”

“…The main reason for this might be due to cultural and aesthetic values followed from past generations and adopted in rooftops too. A major difference reported in this study as compared to the home garden was ornamental plants diversity which is high in rooftop gardens, but in-home garden vegetables were more abundant and enough for home consumption [ 20 ].…”

“…The research question was constructed using past literature [ 4 , 6 , 20 ] and past field surveys [ 1 , 20 ], and constraints were added from pilot testing in the study area based on problems faced by respondents. 10 respondents from each area were interviewed for the piloting of the questionnaire but were not included in the final survey.…”