Assessing the status of home garden biodiversity in Assam, India: An economic perspective

The current study made an effort to evaluate the status of biodiversity of home gardens in five agroclimatic zones of Assam. Crop species components were compiled into an inventory, and the Shannon–wiener index was used to perform a comparative analysis. The species diversity, density, abundance, and relative importance were computed. During the survey of 290 gardens spread across the five agroclimatic zones of the state, 144 plant species from 64 families were identified. The study found that each home garden assessed had an average of 34 plant species, including medicinal plant species, vegetable species, tree species, and spices and condiments. The current study's mean Shannon index varies from 1.20 to 1.31 across agroclimatic zones. We observed that species diversities in terms of richness were fairly similar among all the home gardens. Our study witnessed that women were more actively participating in home garden activities in the study area. Contribution of home garden towards household income was studied, and it was found that it contributes around 43 percent of total income. Our findings suggest that by cultivating a wide variety of plant species with numerous potential uses in their home gardens, they preserve the sustainability of their surroundings.