On-Farm Management, Processing and Post- Harvest Handling of the Indigenous Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw) Cheesman) in Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Enset is a perennial, drought-tolerant, banana-like plant that used for food, fodder, fiber production, fuel, traditional medicine, and for other different cultural practices. The enset production system of Gedeo expresses complex interrelationships between humans and biological diversity. Majority of research studies focused on higher altitudes, where enset production was established successfully for long time. However, enset can grow in wide range of environment including lower altitudes, where the potential use of the crop might be further exploited. Hence, the objective of this research was to provide information on on-farm management and processing of enset across the different agroecology of Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia. From the three agroecological representative woredas, a total of seven sample kebeles were selected. Detailed information from volunteer key informants on the crop agroecological preferences, crop calendar, propagation techniques, planting methods, soil management, disease and pest management, harvesting, processing, and storage methods were collected. This information was organized and developed into a structured questionnaire. A total of 230 randomly selected farmer households were included in the data. In the study area enset crop-management and processing activities performed using traditional methods. Some alternative techniques and approaches, such as the seed propagation method overlooked.