The study of the conservational status of some cultivated crop plant species and their wild relatives in Ashanti Region of Ghana

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1998-02-14
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Questionnaire and field surveys were carried out in some selected fanning communities in twelve districts in the Ashanti region of Ghana to determine the cultivated and wild crop species and varieties that the local people knew to occur in their localities in the past, their indigenous uses and their present conservational status. Both males and females were interviewed during the survey. Active participation of the farmers was enlisted by informing them about the purpose of the project and the benefits they would derive. The survey produced a great deal of data about crop species and varieties found in the villages, farms and surrounding bushes or forest, their uses and conservational status. The knowledge of the local people about these plants especially the wild species differed significantly from district to district. The cultivated crops are food, vegetable and cash crops. Many of the trees and shrubs mentioned as wild crops have multipurpose uses. Some of them provide edible seeds or fruits, and leaves, while others are valued purely for their medicinal properties. The survival of the plant species is presently tenuous. Although majority of the plant species identified are still found in the survey area about sixty five percent of them were mentioned as rare or endangered. Factors causing the disappearance of these species were identified as adoption of high yielding varieties, bush fires, logging etc.
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A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science, 1988
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