Wild Vegetables Used by Local Community of Makawanpur District and Their Contribution to Food Security and Income Generation

Abstract

Wild vegetables were collected from forests, home gardens, road sides, fallow lands and farmers’ fields of Makawanpur district. Information regarding local names, seasonal availability, mode of consumption and priority for utilization were gathered by interviews with key informants, traders’ interviews and market survey of study sites. Some of nutritive values including relative importance of wild vegetables were recorded from literature. A total of 68 wild plant species belonging to 58 genera and 40 families were identified as wild vegetables. Of these, 53 species were herbs, 5 climbers, 4 species shrubs, 4 species trees, and 2 species aquatic runners. The wild vegetables were harvested mainly from March to July by women for household consumption and were also sold in the market. Amaranthus lividus, Bambusa tulda, Bauhinia purpurea, Chenopodium album, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Diplazium esculentum, Dryopteris cochleata, Ficus lacor, Ipomoea aquatica, Macropanax dispermus, Phytolacca acinosa, Rorripa nasturtium-aquaticum, Tectaria coduanata, were frequently used as wild vegetables. About 16 wild vegetables were sold in the market. Thus, wild vegetables not only contributed to subsistence and nutritional security of the local people, but also a source of income generation. Despite their importance, these plants have been threatened. The utilization and cultivation of these vegetables should be promoted to maintain the dietary needs of the household in Nepal. This paper attempts to highlight the use and priority of wild vegetables mainly leafy and tender shoot vegetables of Makawanpur district.

Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 59-66

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7442