Dominance Hierarchies, Diversity and Spatial Connect of Crops in Banana Based High Range Home Gardens

Home gardens are a time tested food production system which can be projected as a promise to the future to mitigate the issues related to the global food security crisis. The home gardens in Kerala are an integral part of the rich tradition which impart a dominant role in livelihood security of the people. The diversity profile of traditional homegardens of high range area and its spatial patterns were investigated in the present study revealed that a mean Shannon and Wiener diversity index (H) of 2.185 was recorded which denoted a dwindling trend in species diversity in banana based high range home gardens of Idukki. An appraisal of the diversity of crops revealed that the highest diversity was recorded in spices (H=1.425) and was on par with fruit crops (H=1.339) whereas lowest was noted on fodder crops (H= 0.054) followed by medicinal plants (H=0.197). Furthermore, the mean total diversity index exhibited a positive significant correlation with the total area of the home garden with a correlation coefficient of 0.621 which signified the importance of spatial dimensions in determining the diversity profile of the home gardens.