Ensete Ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman]

73 Fruits (6), 342–348 | ISSN 0248-1294 print, 1625-967X online | https://doi.org/10.17660/th2018/73.6.4 | © ISHS 2018 Review article – Thematic Issue Traditional enset [Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman] improvement sucker propagation methods and opportunities for crop Z. Yemataw , K. Tawle 3 1 1 2,a 1 , G. Blomme and K. Jacobsen 23 The Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI-Areka), Areka Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 79, Areka, Ethiopia Bioversity International, c/o ILRI, P.O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium Summary Significance of this study Introduction – This review focuses on the enset What is already known on this subject? seed systems in Ethiopia and explores opportunities • to improve the system. Cultivated enset is predominantly vegetatively propagated by farmers. Repro- Traditional macro-propagation methods, using entire duction of an enset plant from seed is seldom prac- scaperhizomes level. or rhizome pieces, currently suffice to pro- ticed by farmers and has been reported only from vide the needed enset suckers at farm, village or land- the highlands of Gardula. Seedlings arising from seed What are the new findings? are reported to be less vigorous than the suckers • e.g., obtained through vegetative propagation. Rhizomes when introducing a new enset cultivar or coping with from immature plants, between 2 and 6 years old, severeWhen larger disease quantities or pest impacts, of suckers improved/novel are needed, mi are preferred for the production of suckers. The aver- age number of suckers produced per rhizome ranges this review paper, could offer solutions. - from 40 to 200, depending on soil conditions, culti- cro- and macro-propagation techniques, as listed in var type, size and age of the parent plant, amount of What is the expected impact on horticulture? rainfall, land preparation and time of planting. Tra- • Clean enset planting materials as part of an integrated ditional macro-propagation of enset suckers involves both men and women farmers. Sucker propagation and transplanting activities often contribute to the field and landscape management approach will con- dissemination or maintenance of pests (e.g., the en- tribute to healthier and more resilient systems. set root mealy bug or nematodes) and diseases (e.g., enset bacterial wilt). Conclusion – Macro- and mi- issues de semences seraient moins vigoureuses cro-propagation are useful technologies to improve que les rejets obtenus par multiplication végétative. the efficiency of sucker production and to provide Les rhizomes de plantes immatures, âgées de 2 à 6 clean replacement plants in locations where diseases ans, sont préférés pour la production de rejets. Le have affected plantations or to locally multiply newly nombre moyen de rejets produits par rhizome varie introduced cultivars for distribution. de 40 à 200, en fonction du type de sol et de cultivar, de la taille et de l’âge de la plante mère, de la pluvio- Keywords métrie, de la préparation du sol et de la saison de plantation. La macro-propagation traditionnelle des vegetative propagation enset, Ethiopia, macro-propagation, micro-propagation, rejets d’ensète mobilise les agriculteurs, hommes et femmes. Les activités de propagation et de repiquage Résumé des rejets contribuent souvent à la dissémination ou au maintien d’organismes nuisibles (par exemple, la Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) punaise cornéenne ou les nématodes) et de maladies Méthodes de propagation des rejets d’en- (par exemple, le flétrissement bactérien de l’ensète). Conclusion – La macro- et la micro-propagation sont culturale.sète traditionnel [ des technologies utiles pour améliorer l’efficacité de Cheesman]Introduction et opportunités– Cette revue pour se concentre l’amélioration sur les la production de rejets, et pour fournir des plants systèmes semenciers de l’ensète en Ethiopie et ex- sains de remplacement aux endroits où les maladies plore les opportunités pour améliorer le système. ont affecté les plantations ou pour multiplier locale- L’ensète cultivée est principalement multipliée par ment des cultivars nouvellement introduits. voie végétative par les agriculteurs. La reproduction d’un plant d’ensète à partir d’une graine est rarement Mots-clés pratiquée par les producteurs et n’a été signalée que Ensete ventricosum sur les hauts plateaux de Gardula. Les plantules ensète, , Ethiopie, macro-propagation, a micro-propagation, multiplication végétative Corresponding author: [email protected]. 342 International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture Yemataw et al . | Traditional enset sucker propagation methods and opportunities for crop improvement Introduction ceremonies, and an often limited number of enset plants perular farm,food scarcity,households family most or often social harvest obligations enset and before annual the The arable Ethiopian highlands, ranging from 1,200 consideredto 3,100 m as a.s.l., one andof the located foremost between centres 35°17’23.56” of origin for andthe 40°23’24.35”E and 5°18’22.38” and 14°09’47.70”N, are plant reaches full maturity and a bunch/fruits with seeds (Triticum Hordeum vulgare), coffee (Coffea), vari is developed (Pankhurst, 1996). In addition, enset plants ousdomestication pulses, tef (ofEragrostis a wide varietytef) and ofenset plants, (Ensete including ventricosum wheat) kochoshould ( preferablyi.e., fermented be harvested starch obtained at or immediately from grated after rhizome, flow- ), barley ( et al. - er emergence to produce optimum quantities and quality of tication of enset is estimated to have arisen in Ethiopia as et al. (Vavilov, 1926; Brandt, 1996; Haile et al., 1996). The domes- real stem and pseudostem leaf sheath tissue) (Tsegaye and in the Musaceae Struik, 2002; Yemataw , 2014). At the farm-level, propa- acteristicsearly as 10,000 with itsyears close ago relative, (Brandt the banana., 1997). The As wild a genus and gation of enset cultivars is primarily vegetative, through the cultivated Ensete family,ventricosum enset shares many botanical char- production of suckers. In a typical enset farm, the main activities include prepar- of banana, but which produces isno a edible large, fruit.tree-like monocot, ing and planting rhizomes fori.e sucker., plants production, are uprooted, production most of with stiff, semi-erect leaves and a flower that resembles that theof young roots suckersand leaves (Figure are removed 1), subsequent and plants one are or replantedmore steps at of a transplanting of the suckers ( As with wild enset, cultivated enset often produces seed. enset plot, harvesting plants, processing of pseudostem leaf However, cultivated enset is predominantly propagated veg- sheathswider spacing), and rhizomes, final transplanting, and fermentation management and storage of the of maturekocho/ andetatively. are sustainable Traditional invegetative the absence macro-propagation of pests (e.g., the methods enset can rapidly multiply large quantitiese.g., Xanthomonas of planting wilt materials of en i.e starch. This review focuses on the enset sucker propagation root mealy bug) or diseases ( - methods/system ( ., all steps before the first transplanting) plantingset). However, material when using pest/disease-affected traditional propagation plants aremethods. pres- and opportunities to improve the system. This review is based ent in a field, it becomes more difficult to produce healthy on publications, grey literature and reports which were com- in the context of biotic factors and climate change/higher agationpiled by have the Southernbeen researched Agricultural on over Research the past Institute decades, (SARI) and This makes enset farming systems vulnerable, particularlyet al., thisand reviewBioversity provides International. a structured Various overview aspects of results of enset and prop rec- temperatures that could worsen the situation (Brandt light of possible future research endeavours. - 1997; McKnight, 2013). ommendations, and discusses research knowledge gaps in the Propagation by seed is possible, but for reasons of reg- Figure 1. Traditional macro-propagation of enset seedlings in a backyard in southern Ethiopia (Source: Guy Blomme). F VolumeIGURE 1. 73 | Issue 6 | November-December 2018 343 Traditional macro-propagation of enset seedlings in a backyard in southern Ethiopia. 10 Yemataw et al . | Traditional enset sucker propagation methods and opportunities for crop improvement Propagation by seed Wild enset reproduces through seed, while cultivated et al. ulateRhizomes sucker production. from immature When thevegetative apical meristem stage plants,is left intact, only one shoot will arise (Diro , 1996). landraces are vegetatively multiplied, which over centuries of cultivation might have altered seed morphology (Zerihun Yematawbetween 2et and al. 4 years old, are preferred for the production Yemataw, 2017, pers. commun.). Enset seeds from cultivated of suckers (Bezuneh and Feleke, 1966; Negash, 2001; coat,types which are characterized is hard, impermeable by low germination and contains rates certain (Negash, chem , 2014). The apical meristem is slightly raised/ 2001). This is attributed partly to the structure of the seed grows upward within the pseudostem (3–12 cm for 2–3 - year old plants) and therefore a portion of the pseudostem ical inhibitors which affect germination efficiency, and partly sections(10–20 cm) of musttissues remain situated intact around when theharvesting apical ameristem, rhizome due to the considerable

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