Ethnobotanical Profile of Diverse Weed Flora in Maize and Wheat Crops of Tehsil Sarai Naurang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Ethnobotanical Profile of Diverse Weed Flora in Maize and Wheat Crops of Tehsil Sarai Naurang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Mushtaq Ahmad1, Hikmat Ullah Jan2, Kanwal Raina3, Nazara Shafiq3, Syed Mukarram Shah1, Muhammad Ibrahim4, Shaha Buddin1 and Gulnaz Parveen3*
ABSTRACT
Th aim and objectives of this study was to conduct an ethnobotanical survey of the diverse weed flora found in maize and wheat crops of Tehsil Sarai Naurang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Wheat and maize are staple crops that form the backbone of global food systems, providing essential nutrition for billions of people worldwide. The ethnobotanical survey was conducted by interviewing local people and farmers to document traditional knowledge on weed species in maize and wheat crops. A semi-structured questionnaire along with group discussion and interviews were used to gather ethnobotanical data. A total of 93 weed species were collected from wheat and maize crops which belonged to 31 families and 77 genera. Among these 31 families 29 families were of Dicots and only 2 families were of monocots. The 71 (76%) species collected were dicots whereas, 22 (24%) species belonged to monocots. Among the Dicots, Asteraceae were the dominant family having 9 weed species followed by, Solanaceae 8 species, Amaranthaceae 7 species, Euphorbiaceae 6 species and Chenopodiaceae with 5 species. The remaining families have less than 5 species each. Among the monocots Poaceae family has 20 weed species whereas, Cyperaceae family has 2 weed species The present study conducted revealed that 46 (49.46%) species were used as fodder followed by, 30 (32.27%) weed species were used as medicinal and 17 (18.27%) species were utilized as vegetables. The collection and documentation of weed flora from the area highlights the rich weed diversity in maize and wheat agroecosystems.
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