HOMEGARDEN CROP-DIVERSITY AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN ADAMI TULU JIDO KOMBOLCHA DISTRICT, EAST SHEWA ZONE, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA.

<strong>Abstract</strong>: The practice of homegarden crop production and crop diversity plays a great role contributing for livelihood improvement and household’s income generation. The aim of this study was to asses’ home garden’s crop-diversity and their contribution to households’ income in Adami Tulu Jido Kombolcha district, East Showa zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. 182 sample home gardens were selected for crop data collection from six purposively selected kebeles. In addition 168 selected households were considered for socioeconomic data collection by semi-structured interview. Data collection instruments were crop inventory, focus group discussion, and semi structured interviews. A total of 48 crop species belonging to 36 genera and 20 families were documented. Among the plant families to which the documented crops in the study area are belong for Fabaceae had the highest number (9 species) followed by Solanaceae (6 species) and Brassicaceae and Rutaceae (each had 4 species). The other 16 plant families together had 25 species. Based on their growth forms, 56% of the crops documented in the study area are herbs, 17% are shrubs, 15% are Trees and 12% are climbers. On the other hand, 25% of the crops documented in the study area are fruits, where 20.8% are Vegetables, 14.6 are Pulse, 12.5% are condiment/spices, 8.3% are medicinal plants, 6.3% are root crops, 4.2% are cereal, 4.2% are fodder, 2.1% are cashcrop and 2.1% are edible.The Shannon Weiner diversity indices of crop species in Bochessa, Abinegermama, Dodicha, Wolinbulla, Negalign, and Halekugulentaboke homegardens were, H’= 3.12, 3.82, 3.38, 3.29, 3.37 and 3.05 respectively. Highest Shannon diversity index value recorded by Abinegermama kebele which is 3.82, the highest similarity index was (0.62) contributed by Bochessa and Neggalign kebeles.Zea mays, Brassica integrifolia, and Capsicum annuum were the most frequently occurring crops that were commonly found in the sampled home gardens. Capsicum annuum was the main cash crop in all sampled Kebeles. About 83% of the annual household’s income in the study area was found to be derived from crops produced in home gardens. This shows that home garden crop production has considerable contribution for household’s income and play a great role for livelihood improvement in the study area. However, in the study area, inadequate support of agricultural inputs, pests, and market instability, were major constraints of homegarden crop diversity and production. Therefore, the local agricultural office should play an active role by providing the all the necessary support or resources. The Federal government of Ethiopia needs to effectively monitor market stability on crop price and support input materials such as seed/seedlings and Chemicals (herbicides and pesticides) provision etc.