DIVERSITY AND FUNCTIONAL GROUP OF HOME GARDEN PLANTS IN ANGECHA WOREDA KAMBATA TEMBARO ZONE SNNPRS OF ETHIOPIA

<strong>Abstract</strong>: Home gardens are production system of diverse crop plants, which is easily accessible and adjacent to household. Home garden plants play a vital role for the social value, economic value and medicinal values of the people. Home garden is an intensive land use system involving the deliberate management of multipurpose trees and shrubs grown in intimate association with herbaceous species with diverse use value. The aim of this study was to assess home garden plant species diversity and classification of plant species in the home gardens including their seasonal variation. Nine kebeles with distinct altitude were selected purposively, and fourteen home gardens were randomly selected for data collection from each kebele. The survey revealed that people of the study area use home garden of size ranging from 0.2 to 1 hectare to cultivate plants of different use values. Overall, 45 plant species distributed in to 38 genera and 31 families were recorded in the study area. Habit wise, trees had the highest number of species (17) followed by herbs (16), shrubs (9) and climbers (3). The family Poaceae with the highest number of species followed by Myrtaceae, Lamiaceae, Brassicaceae and Rosaceae. The majority distributed food crops cultivated are Ensete ventrecosum with a highest frequency followed by Brassica oleoleracea L. Solanum tuberosum L., Brassica carinata, Dacus carota L. and Persea americana respectively. The majority food crops cultivated in home gardens are used for household consumption. Although the local people of the study area seem to have culture of maintaining home gardens, they should be aware of diversifying plant species to maximize the use of home gardens.