Ethnobotany and Collection of West African Okra [Abelmoschus caillei (A. Chev.) Stevels] Germplasm in Some Communities in Edo and Delta States, Southern Nigeria

Abstract

West African Okra (WAO), [Abelmoschus caillei (A. Chev.) Stevels, Malvaceae] is a garden cultivar intraditional agricultural system in West Africa, which is its center of diversity. In this study, WAO germplasmcollection missions were carried out in Koko, Agbor and Umunede communities in Delta state and Abudu,Ogan, Ologbo, Agenebode communities in Edo state. Through random sampling, informants were selected andadministered open and close ended questionnaire in order to assess local knowledge of WAO. Three scheduledvisits were carried out to each community. A total of 179 accessions of WAO were collected from the differentcommunities with 70 (ten from each community) accessions examined. Demographic distribution suggests78.6% and 21.4% female to male respondents respectively. Majority of these germplasm holders practiceChristianity (88.1%) with the largest age range group encountered been 51-60 (29.4%) while the least was 21-30 (9.1%). The prominent occupation of respondents was farming (45.2%) while dominant ethnic groups wereBenin (42.9%) and Ika (16.7%). The presences of some vegetables considered as competitive substitute wererecorded from the study area including Common Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), Pumpkin (Telfairiaoccidentalis), Pigweed (Amaranthus sp.), Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), Bitter leaf (Vernoniaamygdalina), Water leaf (Talinum triangulare) and Scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum). Food and non-food usewas recorded for WAO. Local names for the crop include Omonukpogbe, Onanukporu, Ukhia noka, Okuruokoki and Manukpogbe. Food use dominates non-food use for WAO in the study area regardless of theindustrial potentials of the wood and phytochemicals. The study has emphasized the roles of traditionalagriculture system and local knowledge in the management of crop germplasm.