Ensete ventricosum: Difference between revisions

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Sir [[John Kirk (explorer)|John Kirk]] felt that in habit ''[[Ensete livingstonianum]]'' is indistinguishable from ''E. ventricosum'' and noted that both are found in the mountains of equatorial Africa.
Sir [[John Kirk (explorer)|John Kirk]] felt that in habit ''[[Ensete livingstonianum]]'' is indistinguishable from ''E. ventricosum'' and noted that both are found in the mountains of equatorial Africa.

== Pests and diseases ==
A major issue with the cultivation of Enset is its vulnerability to severals pests and diseases.

=== Pests: ===
The most common pest that threatens enset is caused by the [[Cataenococcus enset]] which is a root [[mealybug]]. The [[Cataenococcus enset]] feeds on the roots and corm of the enset plant which leads to slower growth and easier uprooting. Even though enset can be infested at all age stages, the highest risk is between the second or fourth growth year<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/910878064|title=Plant protection in tropical root and tuber crops|last=P.,|first=Parvatha Reddy,|isbn=9788132223894|location=New Delhi|oclc=910878064}}</ref>. The dispersion of the mealybug occurs through different vectors: First, the larvae can crawl short distances <ref name=":02" />as adults [[Mealybug|mealybugs]] tend to move only after being disturbed<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Addis|first=Temesgen|last2=Azerefegne|first2=Ferdu|last3=Blomme|first3=Guy|last4=Kanaujia|first4=K|date=2008|title=Biology of the Enset Root Mealybug Cataenococcus ensete and its Geographical Distribution in Southern Ethiopia|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266582883_Biology_of_the_Enset_Root_Mealybug_Cataenococcus_ensete_and_its_Geographical_Distribution_in_Southern_Ethiopia|journal=Journal of Applied Biosciences|volume=8 (1)|pages=251 – 260|via=Researchgate}}</ref>. Second, [[Mealybug|mealybugs]]-ant symbiotic relationships can be linked to enset infestation and protect and even transport the mealybug over short distances. In return, they feed on the mealybug honeydew. Third, flooding events can transport the [[mealybug]] over longer distances and reach enset plants. However, the main transport vectors are unclean working tools and the usage of already infected suckers<ref name=":02" />. This means that the best way to get rid of the bug and to limit its propagation is to uproot the plant and burn it.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1056710194|title=Adaptation and Change in Enset Ecology and Farming Among the Kore of Southwestern Ethiopia|last=author.|first=Assoma, Awoke Amzaye, 1962-|oclc=1056710194}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite journal|last=Addis|first=T|last2=Azerefegne|first2=F|last3=Blomme|first3=G|date=2010-05-11|title=Density and distribution on enset root mealybugs on enset|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/acsj.v16i1.54344|journal=African Crop Science Journal|volume=16|issue=1|doi=10.4314/acsj.v16i1.54344|issn=2072-6589}}</ref><ref>Addis, Temesgen & Azerefegne, Ferdu & Blomme, Guy. (2010). Density And Distribution Of Enset Root Mealybugs On Enset. African Crop Science Journal (ISSN: 1021-9730) Vol 16 Num 1. 16. 10.4314/acsj.v16i1.54344.</ref>In addition, the fields can be kept free of plant growth for a month since the mealybug can only survive up to three weeks without plant material<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":12" />.

Other pests include [[Nematode|nematodes]], [[Spider mite|spider mites]], [[Aphid|aphids]], [[Mole-rat|mole rats]], [[Porcupine|porcupines]] and wild pigs. The latter erode the corm and [[pseudostem]]<ref name=":02" />. As for the [[Nematode|nematodes]], there are two predominant species: there are the root lesion nematodes [[Pratylenchus goodeyi|(Pratylenchus goodeyi]]) and the root-knot nematodes ([[Root-knot nematode|Meloidogyne]] sp.) and their appearance stands in connection with bacterial wilt<ref name=":02" />. [[Pratylenchus goodeyi]] create lesions on the corm and roots, which can lead to cavities up to 2 cm and characteristic purple colouring around the cavities. The [[nematode]] infestation leads to the easy uprooting of the affected plants. Crop rotation can counteract high nematode infestations<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Peregrine|first=W. T. H.|last2=Bridge|first2=John|date=1992-01|title=The lesion nematodePratylenchus goodeyian important pest ofEnsetein Ethiopia|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09670879209371719|journal=Tropical Pest Management|language=en|volume=38|issue=3|pages=325–326|doi=10.1080/09670879209371719|issn=0143-6147}}</ref>.

=== Diseases: ===
[[File:Platano Colombia1 (4875321613).jpg|thumb|354x354px|[[Black sigatoka|Black Sigatoka]] leafe streak]]
The Enset plant can be subject to multiple diseases that threaten its use in agriculture<ref name=":42">{{Cite journal|last=Negash|first=Almaz|last2=Niehof|first2=Anke|date=2004|title=The significance of enset culture and biodiversity for rural household food and livelihood security in southwestern Ethiopia|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/b:ahum.0000014023.30611.ad|journal=Agriculture and Human Values|volume=21|issue=1|pages=61–71|doi=10.1023/b:ahum.0000014023.30611.ad|issn=0889-048X}}</ref><ref name=":32" />. The most well known of them is the infection by the bacteria [[Xanthomonas campestris]] pathovar Musacerum which creates bacterial wilt, also known as borijje and wol’a by the Kore people.<ref name=":22" />The first observation of this disease was reported by Yirgou and Bradbury<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yirgou|first=D.|last2=Bradbury|first2=J. F.|date=1974-07|title=A Note on Wilt of Banana Caused by the Enset Wilt Organism Xanthomonas musacearum|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00128325.1974.11662720|journal=East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal|volume=40|issue=1|pages=111–114|doi=10.1080/00128325.1974.11662720|issn=0012-8325}}</ref>. The manifestation of the bacterial wilt is taking place in the apical leaves that will wilt then dry and finally lead to the drying of the whole plant.<ref name=":22" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nakato|first=Valentine|last2=Mahuku|first2=George|last3=Coutinho|first3=Teresa|date=2017-09-20|title=Xanthomonas campestris
pv. musacearum
: a major constraint to banana, plantain and enset production in central and east Africa over the past decade|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mpp.12578|journal=Molecular Plant Pathology|volume=19|issue=3|pages=525–536|doi=10.1111/mpp.12578|issn=1464-6722}}</ref>The only way to avoid the spreading of the disease is in uprooting, burning and burying plants as well as in applying strict control of the knives and tools used to harvest and treat the plants.

Other diseases have been observed such as Okka and Woqa which occur respectively in case of severe drought and in situations of too much water in the soil which causes the proliferation of bacteria. These problems can be solved by either watering the field when drought is present or by draining the soil to avoid too much water.<ref name=":22" />

Another disease can strike Enset even though it has been more observed on Banana plants ([[Musaceae|Musacea]]). This disease is caused by [[Mycosphaerellaceae|Mycospharella spp]]. and is commonly called [[Black sigatoka|black Sigatoka]] leaf streaks. The symptoms are basically dark/brown lesions surrounded by yellow on the leaves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gurmu|first=Tadesse|last2=Adugna|first2=Girma|last3=Berecha|first3=Gezahegn|date=2016-12-28|title=Black Sigatoka leaf streaks of banana (Musa spp.) caused by Mycosphaerella fijiensis in Ethiopia|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41348-016-0070-8|journal=Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection|volume=124|issue=3|pages=245–253|doi=10.1007/s41348-016-0070-8|issn=1861-3829}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41347037|title=Diseases of banana, abacá, and enset|last=|first=|date=1999|publisher=CABI Pub|others=Jones, D. R. (David Robert), 1946-|year=|isbn=0851993559|location=Wallingford, Oxon, UK|page=|pages=44–48|chapter=Black leaf streak: Symptoms|oclc=41347037}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marín|first=Douglas H.|last2=Romero|first2=Ronald A.|last3=Guzmán|first3=Mauricio|last4=Sutton|first4=Turner B.|date=2003-03|title=Black Sigatoka: An Increasing Threat to Banana Cultivation|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/pdis.2003.87.3.208|journal=Plant Disease|volume=87|issue=3|pages=208–222|doi=10.1094/pdis.2003.87.3.208|issn=0191-2917}}</ref><ref>Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoRA). (2009). Crop variety register issueNo. 12. pp. 157–159.</ref>This disease happens to be favoured by high rainfall and lower temperature.<ref>Swennen R. and Vuylsteke D., 1993. 'Breeding Black Sigatoka resistant plantains with a wild banana'. ''Tropical Agriculture'' 70 (1):74-77.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=TUSHEMEREIRWE|first=W. K.|last2=WALLER|first2=J. M.|date=1993-06|title=Black leaf streak (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) in Uganda|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3059.1993.tb01525.x|journal=Plant Pathology|volume=42|issue=3|pages=471–472|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3059.1993.tb01525.x|issn=0032-0862}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zandjanakou-Tachin|first=M.|last2=Ojiambo|first2=P. S.|last3=Vroh-Bi|first3=I.|last4=Tenkouano|first4=A.|last5=Gumedzoe|first5=Y. M.|last6=Bandyopadhyay|first6=R.|date=2012-07-02|title=Pathogenic variation ofMycosphaerellaspecies infecting banana and plantain in Nigeria|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3059.2012.02650.x|journal=Plant Pathology|volume=62|issue=2|pages=298–308|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3059.2012.02650.x|issn=0032-0862}}</ref>

== Socio-cultural importance of enset in Ethiopia ==
Enset cultivation in [[Ethiopia]] is reported to be 10’000 years old<ref name=":52">''Brandt, S. A., Spring, A., Hiebsch, C., McCabe, J. T., Tabogie, E., Diro, M., … Tesfaye, S. (1997). The “Tree Against Hunger,” 66.''</ref><ref name=":62">{{Cite book|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/906993853|title=On indigenous production, genetic diversity and crop ecology of enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman)|last=1960-|first=Tsegaye, Admasu,|date=2002|publisher=s.n.]|isbn=9058086283|oclc=906993853}}</ref><ref name=":22" />and it has major economic, social, cultural and environmental functions related to trade, medicine, cultural identity, rituals or settlement patterns<ref name=":52" /><ref name=":22" />.

Enset-planting complex is one of the four farming systems of [[Ethiopia]] together with pastoralism, shifting cultivation and the seed-farming complex. It is widely used by around 20 million people which represent 20-25% of the population who mainly lives in the densely populated highlands of south, southwest Ethiopia<ref name=":62" /><ref name=":22" />.

The plant is very important for food security, as it is quite resistant to droughts (growth is only momentaneously stopped) and it can be harvested at any development stage<ref name=":62" />. Nevertheless, in recent years, the population growth put an important pressure on enset cultivation systems by a decrease of fertilization through manure and an increase in demand, especially during droughts, where enset becomes the only resource available<ref name=":62" />.

=== '''The role of gender in enset cultivation''' ===
Gender roles in enset cultivation are of high importance<ref name=":52" />, as a strong division of work exists: generally men are responsible for the propagation, cultivation, and transplanting of enset, while women are in charge of manuring, hand-weeding, thinning and landrace selection<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":62" />. Additionally, women process enset plants which is a tedious work (transformation of the plant into useful material, principally food and fibres) and for which they gather together. Interestingly, men are banned from the field during this process<ref name=":52" /><ref name=":62" /><ref name=":22" />. As women are responsible to provide sufficient food to their family, they are the ones who choose when and which plant to harvest and which quantity to sell<ref name=":42" />.

Different studies state the importance of women’s knowledge on the different crop varieties. Indeed, they recognize with more precision the different genotypes of the plant than men<ref name=":52" /><ref name=":42" /><ref name=":62" />. Nevertheless, Brandt (1997)<ref name=":52" />reports that “women's’ work is often relegated to lesser significance than men’s’” and Ragasa et al. (2013)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ragasa|first=Catherine|last2=Berhane|first2=Guush|last3=Tadesse|first3=Fanaye|last4=Taffesse|first4=Alemayehu Seyoum|date=2013-10|title=Gender Differences in Access to Extension Services and Agricultural Productivity|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2013.817343|journal=The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension|language=en|volume=19|issue=5|pages=437–468|doi=10.1080/1389224x.2013.817343|issn=1389-224X}}</ref>adds that women are less likely to get access to extension services and quality services than male.

Another important aspect in which gender plays a role is in the classification of enset clones: “male” varieties are differentiated from “female varieties. Indeed, this emic classification is based on the preferences of women and men<ref name=":42" />. Whereas men prefer late maturing genotypes resistant to diseases, women prefer varieties that are good for cooking and can be harvested for consumption at an earlier stage<ref name=":42" />. In general, households tend to have slightly more “female” genotypes than male ones<ref name=":52" /><ref name=":42" />.

The above-mentioned aspects show that, enset systems are related to gender in many ways from their management and tasks repartition in the household to varieties classification.

=== '''Enset biodiversity and socio-cultural and -economic groups''' ===
In Ethiopia, over 300 enset varieties have been recorded<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yemataw|first=Zerihun|last2=Tesfaye|first2=Kassahun|last3=Zeberga|first3=Awole|last4=Blomme|first4=Guy|date=2016-09-01|title=Exploiting indigenous knowledge of subsistence farmers’ for the management and conservation of Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) (musaceae family) diversity on-farm|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-016-0109-8|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine|volume=12|issue=1|doi=10.1186/s13002-016-0109-8|issn=1746-4269}}</ref>which is an important asset in terms of agro- and biodiversity. The farmers’ management of enset biodiversity is motivated by the multiple uses of enset in both food system and beyond<ref name=":42" />. This is a significant difference between Ethiopian subsistence farmers’ and plant breeders’ approaches: by maintaining biodiversity, Ethiopian farmers spread important characteristics over many enset varieties instead of combining a number of desired characteristics in one single genotype<ref name=":42" />. Unfortunately, over the last three decades, the natural resource base has continuously been degraded - mainly because of population pressure and recurrent droughts<ref name=":62" />- which puts ecological, social and economic benefits at stake. Research has not significantly contributed to an improvement of management practices, mainly because of a lack of attention to indigenous production knowledge and a preference for technical solutions<ref name=":62" />.

However, the high number of varieties is mainly due to the fact that enset-growing regions are inhabited by more than 11 ethnic groups with different cultures, traditions and agricultural systems<ref name=":62" />. Farmers in these areas have applied broad and complex indigenous knowledge of farming systems based on interactions between varieties, crop species, livestock (manure) and cultivation processes in order to sustain production. Moreover, enset biodiversity is not only linked to ethnic groups but also to the households’ socio-economic status: wealthier farmers can generally afford to maintain a higher level of farm biodiversity as they have more resources such as land, labour and livestock which enables them to maintain more varieties with differing specific characteristics <ref name=":62" />. However, also poorer households try to maintain as many clones as possible, selecting the disease-resistant first<ref name=":42" />. This socio-economic aspect shows that biodiversity can be considered an asset that reflects a strong livelihood status and hence it expresses a higher social status<ref name=":42" />.

These considerations show that biodiversity advantages go beyond aspects such as resistance to climate change or diseases and health (more nutritious diet): the maintenance of biodiversity in Ethiopia is strongly linked to the maintenance of socio-cultural and -economic aspects. As farmers’ management of biodiversity is based on indigenous knowledge and related experience, a dying out of enset varieties makes also disappear a part of cultural practices and connected language elements (Negash et al., 2004)<ref name=":42" />. Additionally, biodiversity depends on socio-economic structures such as the distribution of poorer and wealthier households - an argument that is supported by the findings of Cromwell and Van Oosterhout (2000)<ref>{{Citation|last=Cromwell|first=Elizabeth|title=On-farm conservation of crop diversity|date=1999-11-29|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9781420049824.ch9|work=Genes in the Field|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781566704052|access-date=2018-11-18|last2=van Oosterhout|first2=Saskia}}</ref>who state that for any given community, crop diversity is often more handled by richer farmers.


== Known variants and hybrids ==
== Known variants and hybrids ==

Revision as of 11:32, 18 November 2018

Ensete ventricosum
Ensete ventricosum, by Walter Hood Fitch (1861)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Ensete
Species:
E. ventricosum
Binomial name
Ensete ventricosum
Synonyms[1]
  • Ensete arnoldianum (De Wild.) Cheesman
  • Ensete bagshawei (Rendle & Greves) Cheesman
  • Ensete buchananii (Baker) Cheesman
  • Ensete davyae (Stapf) Cheesman
  • Ensete edule Bruce ex Horan.
  • Ensete fecundum (Stapf) Cheesman
  • Ensete holstii (K.Schum.) Cheesman
  • Ensete laurentii (De Wild.) Cheesman
  • Ensete proboscideum (Oliv.) Cheesman
  • Ensete ruandense (De Wild.) Cheesman
  • Ensete rubronervatum (De Wild.) Cheesman
  • Ensete schweinfurthii (K.Schum. & Warb.) Cheesman
  • Ensete ulugurense (Warb. & Moritz) Cheesman
  • Ensete ventricosum var. montbeliardii (Bois) Cufod.
  • Mnasium theophrasti Pritz. [Invalid]
  • Musa arnoldiana De Wild.
  • Musa bagshawei Rendle & Greves
  • Musa buchananii Baker
  • Musa davyae Stapf
  • Musa ensete J.F.Gmel.
  • Musa fecunda Stapf
  • Musa holstii K.Schum.
  • Musa kaguna Chiov.
  • Musa laurentii De Wild.
  • Musa martretiana A.Chev.
  • Musa proboscidea Oliv.
  • Musa ruandensis De Wild.
  • Musa rubronervata De Wild.
  • Musa schweinfurthii K.Schum. & Warb.
  • Musa ulugurensis Warb. & Moritz
  • Musa ventricosa Welw.

Ensete ventricosum, commonly known as the Ethiopian banana, Abyssinian banana,[2] false banana, enset or ensete,[2] is an herbaceous species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae. The name Ensete ventricosum was first published in 1948 in the Kew Bulletin, 1947, p. 101. Its synonyms include Musa arnoldiana De Wild., Musa ventricosa Welw. and Musa ensete J.F.Gmel.[3] It is native to the eastern edge of the Great African Plateau, extending northwards from South Africa through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to Ethiopia, and west to the Congo, being found in high rainfall forests on mountains, and along forested ravines and streams.

Description

Like bananas, Ensete ventricosum is a large non-woody plant—a gigantic monocarpic evergreen perennial herb (not a tree)[4]—up to 6 m (20 ft) tall. It has a stout pseudostem of tightly overlapping leaf bases, and large banana-like leaf blades of up to 5 m (16 ft) tall by 1 m (3 ft 3 in) wide, with a salmon-pink midrib. The flowers, which only occur once from the centre of the plant at the end of that plant's life, are in massive pendant thyrses covered by large pink bracts. The fruits are inedible (insipid, flavorless)[5] and have hard, black, rounded seeds. After flowering, the plant dies.

The Latin specific epithet ventricosum means “with a swelling on the side, like a belly”.[6]

Use as a foodcrop

A Kambaata woman extracting the edible part of an enset with a traditional tool (SNNPR, Ethiopia)

"Enset provides more amount of foodstuff per unit area than most cereals. It is estimated that 40 to 60 enset plants occupying 250-375 sq. meters can provide enough food for a family of 5 to 6 people."[7]

Enset (E. ventricosum) is Ethiopia's most important root crop, a traditional staple in the densely populated south and southwestern parts of Ethiopia.[8] Its importance to the diet and economy of the Gurage and Sidama peoples was first recorded by Jerónimo Lobo.[9] The root is the main edible portion as its fruit is insipid. Each plant takes four to five years to mature, at which time a single root will give 40 kg of food. Due to the long period of time from planting to harvest, plantings need to be staggered over time, to ensure that there is enset available for harvest in every season. Enset will tolerate drought better than most cereal crops.

Wild enset plants are produced from seeds, while most domesticated plants are propagated from suckers. Up to 400 suckers can be produced from just one mother plant. In 1994 3,000 km2 of enset were grown in Ethiopia, with a harvest estimated to be almost 10 tonnes per hectare. Enset is often intercropped with sorghum, although the practice amongst the Gedeo people is to intercrop it with coffee.[10] It is a major crop, although often supplemented with cereal crops.[11]

However its value as a famine food has fallen due to a number of causes, as detailed in the April 2003 issue of the UN-OCHA Ethiopia unit's Focus on Ethiopia:

Apart from an Enset plant disease epidemic in 1984–85 which wiped out large parts of the plantations and created the green famine, in the past 10 years major factors were recurrent drought and food shortage together with acute land shortage that forced farmers more and more into consumption of immature plants. Hence farmers were overexploiting their Enset reserves thereby causing gradual losses and disappearance of the false banana as an important household food security reserve. Even though not all the plant losses can be attributed to drought and land shortage and hence early consumption of immature crops, estimations go as far as more than 60% of the false banana crop stands have been lost in some areas in SNNPR during the last 10 years. This basically means that a great many people who used to close the food gap with false banana consumption are not able to do so any more, and lacking a viable alternative, have become food insecure and highly vulnerable to climatic and economic disruptions of their agricultural system.[12]

The young and tender tissues in the centre or heart of the plant (the growing point) are cooked and eaten, being tasty and nutritious and very like the core of palms and cycads. In Ethiopia, more than 150 000 ha are cultivated for the starchy staple food prepared from the pulverised trunk and inflorescence stalk. Fermenting these pulverised parts results in a food called kocho. Bulla is made from the liquid squeezed out of the mixture and sometimes eaten as a porridge, while the remaining solids are suitable for consumption after a settling period of some days. Mixed kocho and bulla can be kneaded into dough, then flattened and baked over a fire. Kocho is in places regarded as a delicacy, suitable for serving at feasts and ceremonies such as weddings, when wheat flour is added. The fresh corm is cooked like potatoes before eating. Dry kocho and bulla are energy-rich and produce from 1400 to 2000kJ per 100 g.

Other uses

The plant is quick-growing and often cultivated as an ornamental plant. In frost-prone areas it requires winter protection under glass.[4] It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[13][14]

A good quality fibre, suitable for ropes, twine, baskets, and general weaving, is obtained from the leaves. Dried leaf-sheaths are used as packing material, serving the same function as Western foam plastic and polystyrene. The entire plant but the roots is used to feed livestock.[15][16] Fresh leaves are a common fodder for cattle during the dry season,[17] and a lot of farmers feed their animals with residues of enset harvest or processing.[16]

History

In 1769 the celebrated Scottish traveller James Bruce first sent a description and quite accurate drawings of a plant common in the marshes around Gondar in Abyssinia, confidently pronounced it to be "no species of Musa" and wrote that its local name was "ensete". In 1853 the British Consul at Mussowah sent some seeds to Kew Gardens, mentioning that their native name was ansett. Kew, quite understandably, did not make the connection, especially as they had never before seen such seeds. However, when the seeds had germinated and the plants had rapidly gained size, their relationship to the true banana became obvious.

Bruce also discussed the plant's place in the mythology of Egypt and pointed out that some Egyptian statue carvings depict the goddess Isis sitting among the leaves of what was thought to be a banana plant, a plant native to Southeast Asia and not known in Ancient Egypt.[18][19]

Sir John Kirk felt that in habit Ensete livingstonianum is indistinguishable from E. ventricosum and noted that both are found in the mountains of equatorial Africa.

Pests and diseases

A major issue with the cultivation of Enset is its vulnerability to severals pests and diseases.

Pests:

The most common pest that threatens enset is caused by the Cataenococcus enset which is a root mealybug. The Cataenococcus enset feeds on the roots and corm of the enset plant which leads to slower growth and easier uprooting. Even though enset can be infested at all age stages, the highest risk is between the second or fourth growth year[20]. The dispersion of the mealybug occurs through different vectors: First, the larvae can crawl short distances [20]as adults mealybugs tend to move only after being disturbed[21]. Second, mealybugs-ant symbiotic relationships can be linked to enset infestation and protect and even transport the mealybug over short distances. In return, they feed on the mealybug honeydew. Third, flooding events can transport the mealybug over longer distances and reach enset plants. However, the main transport vectors are unclean working tools and the usage of already infected suckers[20]. This means that the best way to get rid of the bug and to limit its propagation is to uproot the plant and burn it.[22][23][24]In addition, the fields can be kept free of plant growth for a month since the mealybug can only survive up to three weeks without plant material[20][21].

Other pests include nematodes, spider mites, aphids, mole rats, porcupines and wild pigs. The latter erode the corm and pseudostem[20]. As for the nematodes, there are two predominant species: there are the root lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus goodeyi) and the root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne sp.) and their appearance stands in connection with bacterial wilt[20]. Pratylenchus goodeyi create lesions on the corm and roots, which can lead to cavities up to 2 cm and characteristic purple colouring around the cavities. The nematode infestation leads to the easy uprooting of the affected plants. Crop rotation can counteract high nematode infestations[25].

Diseases:

Black Sigatoka leafe streak

The Enset plant can be subject to multiple diseases that threaten its use in agriculture[26][23]. The most well known of them is the infection by the bacteria Xanthomonas campestris pathovar Musacerum which creates bacterial wilt, also known as borijje and wol’a by the Kore people.[22]The first observation of this disease was reported by Yirgou and Bradbury[27]. The manifestation of the bacterial wilt is taking place in the apical leaves that will wilt then dry and finally lead to the drying of the whole plant.[22][28]The only way to avoid the spreading of the disease is in uprooting, burning and burying plants as well as in applying strict control of the knives and tools used to harvest and treat the plants.

Other diseases have been observed such as Okka and Woqa which occur respectively in case of severe drought and in situations of too much water in the soil which causes the proliferation of bacteria. These problems can be solved by either watering the field when drought is present or by draining the soil to avoid too much water.[22]

Another disease can strike Enset even though it has been more observed on Banana plants (Musacea). This disease is caused by Mycospharella spp. and is commonly called black Sigatoka leaf streaks. The symptoms are basically dark/brown lesions surrounded by yellow on the leaves.[29][30][31][32]This disease happens to be favoured by high rainfall and lower temperature.[33][34][35]

Socio-cultural importance of enset in Ethiopia

Enset cultivation in Ethiopia is reported to be 10’000 years old[36][37][22]and it has major economic, social, cultural and environmental functions related to trade, medicine, cultural identity, rituals or settlement patterns[36][22].

Enset-planting complex is one of the four farming systems of Ethiopia together with pastoralism, shifting cultivation and the seed-farming complex. It is widely used by around 20 million people which represent 20-25% of the population who mainly lives in the densely populated highlands of south, southwest Ethiopia[37][22].

The plant is very important for food security, as it is quite resistant to droughts (growth is only momentaneously stopped) and it can be harvested at any development stage[37]. Nevertheless, in recent years, the population growth put an important pressure on enset cultivation systems by a decrease of fertilization through manure and an increase in demand, especially during droughts, where enset becomes the only resource available[37].

The role of gender in enset cultivation

Gender roles in enset cultivation are of high importance[36], as a strong division of work exists: generally men are responsible for the propagation, cultivation, and transplanting of enset, while women are in charge of manuring, hand-weeding, thinning and landrace selection[22][37]. Additionally, women process enset plants which is a tedious work (transformation of the plant into useful material, principally food and fibres) and for which they gather together. Interestingly, men are banned from the field during this process[36][37][22]. As women are responsible to provide sufficient food to their family, they are the ones who choose when and which plant to harvest and which quantity to sell[26].

Different studies state the importance of women’s knowledge on the different crop varieties. Indeed, they recognize with more precision the different genotypes of the plant than men[36][26][37]. Nevertheless, Brandt (1997)[36]reports that “women's’ work is often relegated to lesser significance than men’s’” and Ragasa et al. (2013)[38]adds that women are less likely to get access to extension services and quality services than male.

Another important aspect in which gender plays a role is in the classification of enset clones: “male” varieties are differentiated from “female varieties. Indeed, this emic classification is based on the preferences of women and men[26]. Whereas men prefer late maturing genotypes resistant to diseases, women prefer varieties that are good for cooking and can be harvested for consumption at an earlier stage[26]. In general, households tend to have slightly more “female” genotypes than male ones[36][26].

The above-mentioned aspects show that, enset systems are related to gender in many ways from their management and tasks repartition in the household to varieties classification.

Enset biodiversity and socio-cultural and -economic groups

In Ethiopia, over 300 enset varieties have been recorded[39]which is an important asset in terms of agro- and biodiversity. The farmers’ management of enset biodiversity is motivated by the multiple uses of enset in both food system and beyond[26]. This is a significant difference between Ethiopian subsistence farmers’ and plant breeders’ approaches: by maintaining biodiversity, Ethiopian farmers spread important characteristics over many enset varieties instead of combining a number of desired characteristics in one single genotype[26]. Unfortunately, over the last three decades, the natural resource base has continuously been degraded - mainly because of population pressure and recurrent droughts[37]- which puts ecological, social and economic benefits at stake. Research has not significantly contributed to an improvement of management practices, mainly because of a lack of attention to indigenous production knowledge and a preference for technical solutions[37].

However, the high number of varieties is mainly due to the fact that enset-growing regions are inhabited by more than 11 ethnic groups with different cultures, traditions and agricultural systems[37]. Farmers in these areas have applied broad and complex indigenous knowledge of farming systems based on interactions between varieties, crop species, livestock (manure) and cultivation processes in order to sustain production. Moreover, enset biodiversity is not only linked to ethnic groups but also to the households’ socio-economic status: wealthier farmers can generally afford to maintain a higher level of farm biodiversity as they have more resources such as land, labour and livestock which enables them to maintain more varieties with differing specific characteristics [37]. However, also poorer households try to maintain as many clones as possible, selecting the disease-resistant first[26]. This socio-economic aspect shows that biodiversity can be considered an asset that reflects a strong livelihood status and hence it expresses a higher social status[26].

These considerations show that biodiversity advantages go beyond aspects such as resistance to climate change or diseases and health (more nutritious diet): the maintenance of biodiversity in Ethiopia is strongly linked to the maintenance of socio-cultural and -economic aspects. As farmers’ management of biodiversity is based on indigenous knowledge and related experience, a dying out of enset varieties makes also disappear a part of cultural practices and connected language elements (Negash et al., 2004)[26]. Additionally, biodiversity depends on socio-economic structures such as the distribution of poorer and wealthier households - an argument that is supported by the findings of Cromwell and Van Oosterhout (2000)[40]who state that for any given community, crop diversity is often more handled by richer farmers.

Known variants and hybrids

  • Ensete ventricosum 'Atropurpureum'
  • Ensete ventricosum 'Green Stripe'
  • Red false banana (Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii', syn. Musa maurelii)
  • Ensete ventricosum 'Montbeliardii'
  • Ensete ventricosum 'Tandarra Red' (syn. Musa 'Tandarra Red')
  • Ensete ventricosum 'Red Stripe' (syn. Musa 'Red Stripe')
  • Ensete ventricosum 'Rubra' (syn. Musa ensete 'Rubra')

Gallery

References

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