Agrotechnology

A survey of underutilized economic tree species in Aliero environs, Nigeria

4^th International Conference on Agriculture & Horticulture

July 13-15, 2015 Beijing, China

Mansur Muhammad A

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Agrotechnol

Abstract:

Abandoned or underutilized trees belong to these class of tree species that have been widely used for centuries or even millennia for their food, fibre, fodder, oil or medicinal properties etc but have been reduced in importance over time owing to fussy supply, demand or use constraints including poor shelf life, unrecognized nutritional value, poor consumer awareness and reputational problems (famine food or �??poor people�??s food�?�). The study which aims at identifying underutilized economic tree species in Aliero environinvolves field surveys for the compiling catalogue of tree species in the study area followed by focus group discussions with local farmers and administering of a structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used for data collection. The data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result revealed that out of seventeen (17) trees species sampled, only six percent (6%) are mostly utilized with forty one percent (41%) and fifty three percent (53%) falling into utilized and underutilized respectively. There is a wide range of underutilized tree species which can be cultivated and or improved and processed in the area. There is need for awareness campaign, improvement on the study on conservation, processing and marketing of underutilized economic trees species.

Biography :

Mansur Muhammad A is currently working at Department of Forestry and Fisheries, Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Nigeria.