Ethnobotany, diverse food uses, claimed health benefits and implications on conservation of barley landraces in North Eastern Ethiopia highlands

Shewayrga, Hailemichael; Sopade, Peter A

doi:10.1186/1746-4269-7-19

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine

Table 5 Vernacular names & their meaning as well as descriptions of major barley landraces grown in North Eastern Ethiopia

From: Ethnobotany, diverse food uses, claimed health benefits and implications on conservation of barley landraces in North Eastern Ethiopia highlands

Names	Zones	Meaning	No of rows*	Seed colour	Maturity	Preferred use**
Agere	N. and S.Wello	The landrace has been cultivated in the area for long time and it is not considered as introduction from somewhere else.	six	white	Medium	Injera
Ahya Asin	N.Wello	Asin refers to the heaviness of the grain for donkey (Ahya) to carry	six		Medium	Injera
Ehil zer	N.Wello	Ehil and zer mean crop and seed, respectively. The context of the naming implies the earliness of the landrace to produce some seed irrespective of the growing condition (moisture stress, poor soil, frost)	irregular	purplish	Early	Beverages
Enat gebs	N. and S.Wello	Barley as good as mother (Enat), and best of all the landraces.	six	white	Late	Injera, beverages
Gendit	N.Wello	The landrace has a very long spike (head).	six	white	Medium	Injera, beverages
Ginbote	N.Wello	A landrace planted in May (Ginbot).	six	white	Late	Injera, genfo, kolo, kinche
Meher gebs (Ere)	N. and S.Wello	Barley landrace grown during the meher season.	six	white	Medium	Injera
Nechita	N.Wello	The name refers to the whiteness of the seed. It has whiter seed than other landraces.	six	Bright white	Medium	Genfo, kinche, kolo
Sene gebs	N. and S.Wello	Barley planted in June (Sene).	irregular	white	Medium	Injera
Temej	N. and S.Wello	Hull-less barley	six	white	Medium	Kolo
Tikur gebs	N. and S.Wello	black (Tikur) color of the barley grain	six, irregular	Black	Medium	Beverages
Tsebel	Wag Hemra	Barley landrace that produces grain with very low rainfall, a rainfall as small as holy water (tsebel).	two	white	Early	Injera, beverages
Wogere	N.Wello	-	six	white	Medium	Injera, beverages
Wongada	N.Wello	-	six	white	Medium	Injera
Zibna	Wag Hemra	-	two	white	Early	Injera, beverages

* If the soil is fertile, irregular row type landraces like Ehil zer grow to have six rows;**preference depends on ability to grow the landrace per se. There is no landrace, except Temej, that cannot be used for injera which is the main dish of the study area. In other words, the less preferred ones are used for making injera if preferred ones are not available. For example, Ehil zer is widely used for making injera in N. Wello because it is the landrace that is relatively better adapted and stable yielding compared to other landraces (e.g. Enat gebs & Ginbote).

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ISSN: 1746-4269

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