Species composition and indigenous management of homegarden of Manipuri community in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Mizanur Rahman, Jahidul Islam, Mahmuda Islam, Mahbubul Alam, Parvez Rana
Author Affiliation: Department of Forestry & Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, Sylhet - 3114, Bangladesh.
International Journal of Forest Usufructs Management 11 : 37-51
Abstract : An exploratory survey was conducted to investigate the species composition and existing management system of the homegarden of Manipuri tribal community of Kamalganj upazilla under the district of Moulvibazar, Bangladesh. The study area was selected purposively at first and than a systematic random sampling was followed to select the specific study unit. Majority of Manipuri people (60.25%) are illiterate where higher secondary is the highest percentage (16.06%) among the literate people. The average family size is 5.53 where the male-female ratio is 115:100. The study revealed that 68.9% house holds are involved in homegardening along with agriculture, Business and Services for their livelihood where 6.67% people depend on only homegarden for their family income. The homegardens of Manipuri tribal community are rich in species composition where 14 species of timber, 9 species of fuel wood, 14 horticulture species, 13 species of medicinal plants, 10 annul crops including leafy vegetables, 10 species of spices, and 4 bamboo species are identified. Among the timber species Akashmoni (Acacia auriculiformis. cum ExBenth), Mahogoni (swietania mahagoni (L) N.J.Jacquin) and Silkoroi (Arbizia procera (Roxb) Benth) are highly preferred and are very common in Manipuri homegarden. Am (Mangifera indica L), Kathal (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk) and Lebu (Citrus limon (Linn) barm f) are more common among the horticultural species. Rain tree (samania saman (Jacq) Merr.) and Akashmoni (Acacia auriculiformis cum ExBenth) are widely planted as fuel wood species since they are fast growing, less susceptible to disease and require little care for their growth. Among the bamboo species Mitinga (Bambusa tulda Roxb) is most common in all the homegardens. A special plant of spice, Nennam (Allium spp.) is reported to grow in the study area. Tulsi (ocimum americanum L.) is found in almost all the homegardens of Manipuri tribe. Indigenous knowledge and technology (IKT) are generally applied by using traditional age-old hand made tools for management of homegarden in Manipuri tribal community.