Indigenous vegetables in Malawi: Germplasm collecting and improvement of production practices

M.B. Kwapata and M.F. Maliro
University of Malawi, Bunda College of Agriculture, Lilongwe, Malawi

Background

A wide range of indigenous vegetables are consumed in Malawi. These contribute greatly to the nutritional well-being of rural people by providing the essential nutrients required for body growth and development and for prevention of diseases associated with nutritional deficiencies, such as blindness due to vitamin A deficiency. Rural families traditionally have made conscious efforts to preserve these plants around their homesteads, in crop fields and communal lands. In recent years, however, exotic vegetables have taken prominence over indigenous vegetables, in spite of their generally lower nutritive value. The availability of indigenous vegetables has declined drastically because of excessive cultivation of field crops and habitat change, including deforestation. This has been exacerbated by a lack of major research and extension efforts to improve their husbandry and promote these species. Thus, the plants must be gathered at increasing distances from human dwellings, and rural women spend more valuable time in search of them. There is also growing ignorance among young people about the existence of these nutritionally rich food plants. The decline in the use of indigenous vegetables by many rural people has resulted in poor diets and increased incidence of nutritional deficiency disorders and diseases in many parts of the country.

To improve the status of indigenous vegetables in Malawi, a long-term research project was implemented at Bunda College of Agriculture to collect and catalogue indigenous vegetable germplasm and to develop production technologies for smallholder adoption.

Aims of the research programme

The Indigenous Vegetables Research Project was approved in April 1991 under a contract research agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture. The project was funded by the World Bank. The main goals of the research programme are:

· to improve the nutrition of the people through increased production and consumption of nutritionally rich local vegetables

· to conserve the diverse germplasm of indigenous vegetables found in Malawi

· to promote food security and sufficiency through diversification and improvement of production practices of vegetable crops

· to promote the economic value of indigenous vegetables.

· collecting and cataloguing of indigenous vegetable germplasm and development of a genebank

· documentation of botanical and horticultural characteristics and seasonal availability of different indigenous vegetables

· selection of popular indigenous vegetable species found in different ecological zones of the country, and seed multiplication

· improvement of the yield and quality of the selected indigenous vegetables through the development of packages of improved agronomic practices.

Methodology

The research project involved countrywide germplasm collecting and documentation of the botanical, ecological and horticultural characteristics of all types of indigenous vegetables consumed in Malawi. The seed collected was multiplied to increase the quantities for field research and storage at the station. The field trials involved seed production studies, evaluation of growth and yield performance of the different indigenous vegetables, and selection of the promising species and varieties.

Field surveys

Field surveys have been carried out in some areas of Karonga Agricultural Development Division (KRADD), Mzuzu Agricultural Development Division (MZADD), Lilongwe Agricultural Development Division (LADD) and Salima Agricultural Development Division (SLADD). Seeds of indigenous vegetables were collected and ecological passport data and recipes were documented during the survey. Some of the information collected is presented in Tables 1 and 2.

Seed multiplication

The seed samples collected in KRADD, MZADD and LADD were planted in the nursery at Bunda for seed multiplication. Seed production studies have been initiated for a few indigenous vegetable species that were collected several years ago in villages around Bunda. Some preliminary results for Amaranthus, Hibiscus and Corchorus are available.

Seed samples of some lines of Amaranthus, Corchorus, Hibiscus and Gynandropsis have been given to Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station (Vegetable Seed Production Programme) and Ngabu Agricultural Development Division (NADD) to establish observation and demonstration plots. The information from Bvumbwe is that there is growing demand for seed of many indigenous vegetables. Furthermore, Bvumbwe has sold some seeds to a number of other Agricultural Development Divisions. Reports from NADD are that many vegetables growers are including indigenous vegetables in their vegetable gardens.

Field agronomic trials

Field agronomic studies have been initiated for Amaranthus, Corchorus, Hibiscus and Gynandropsis. There are some preliminary results for Amaranthus. Since the start of the project in 1991, three Bunda College students have done research projects on topics related to the improvement of indigenous vegetable production in partial fulfilment of their degree.

Seminar/workshops presentations

The results of the Indigenous Vegetable Research Project have been presented at NADD to a group of Senior Technical Officers and Technicians in a workshop on vegetable and fruit production, to a group of Senior Crops Officers in a workshop in Mangochi, at the national plant genetic resources workshop and at the Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology Conference at Liwonde. The reaction from participants at these fora was very encouraging and many expressed a need for more information on the different types of indigenous vegetables and production systems.

Table 1. Indigenous vegetables found in KRADD (1991/92) (District: Karonga; Village: Kayuni).

Scientific name	Vernacular name	Morphology	Ecology
Adenia cissampeloides	Chisokololonde/chiswalaswala	herbaceous vine	lowlands on loam soils
Albizia antunesiana	Chisale	tree	lowlands on loam soils
	Mphulula	vine	uplands on loam soils
	Lusokololonde/kahekwa/chilumbe	vine	uplands on loam soils
	Luyuzi	herbaceous	uplands on loam soils
	Kalundikankhwale	shrub	uplands on loam soils
	Zimwalonde/kamzimwalonde	herbaceous	uplands on loam soils
	Zindirachula	shrub	uplands on sandy soils
	Bwenkha wa chinyolomosa	shrub	uplands and lowlands on sandy soils
Campestris spp.	Bogha	herbaceous shrub	uplands on loam soils
Cucurbita maxima	Mawiyama/mkamba	herbaceous vine	uplands and lowlands on silt loam soils
Hibiscus physaloides	Ntheke/Berekete	herbaceous shrub	uplands and lowlands on sandy loam soils

Table 2. Availability, edible portion and preparation for consumption of some indigenous vegetables found in KRADD (1991/92) (District: Karonga; Village: Kayuni).

Name	Availability	Preparation
Adenia cissampeloides	rainy season	cooked fresh, add groundnuts, soda, tomato, onion and oil
Albizia antunesiana	January/December	leaves cooked fresh, add groundnuts, soda, tomato, onion and oil
Campestris spp.	rainy season	cooked fresh or dried, add groundnuts, tomato and oil
Cucurbita maxima	rainy season	cooked fresh, add groundnuts tomato, onion and oil
Hibiscus physaloides	rainy season	leaves cooked fresh, add groundnuts, tomato, onion plus oil
Kalundikankhwale	rainy season	cooked fresh or dried, add groundnuts, soda, tomato, onion and oil
Lusokololonde	rainy season	cooked fresh, add groundnuts, soda, tomato, onion and oil
Luyuzi	rainy season	cooked fresh, add groundnuts, tomato, onion and oil
Mphulula	rainy season	cooked fresh, boiled first and water discarded, then add water, tomato and onion

Collaboration

At the moment, collaborative activities are with Bvumbwe, especially the Vegetable Seed Production Section, and NADD. The Bvumbwe activities involve seed purification and production of some promising indigenous vegetables (Amaranthus, Corchorus, Gynandropsis, Hibiscus and local rape) for sale to interested smallholder farmers. NADD has been provided with initial seedlots for setting up a demonstration garden and to produce its own seed for distribution to interested farmers.

To widen our scope of collaboration, this year a student from the University of Reading, UK, under the British Overseas Volunteer Trainee Programme, has been attached to the Indigenous Vegetable Research Project and will undertake studies on field evaluation of seed production potentials of some of the promising indigenous vegetable species.

Summary of results

The results of the field survey conducted in some districts of KRADD, MZADD and LADD show that a wide range of indigenous vegetables is used in these areas. Most are herbaceous shrubs or vines. The majority are found in lowland areas (dambos) on sand/clay loam soils. Most of those found in upland areas are trees or shrubs. A number of vegetables could not be identified (because of inadequate herbarium vouchers) and they are recorded by their vernacular names. There is a need for botanical verification and further characterization once the vegetables have been raised at the station. The ten most popular indigenous vegetables out of 60 species in the KRADD area are: Corchorus trilocularis, Cucurbita maxima, Amaranthus lividus, Gynandropsis gynandra, Capsicum spp., Bidens pilosa, Adenia cissampeloides, Hibiscus physaloides, Afzelia quanzensis and 'mukokwa'.

The fresh leaves are the edible portion for nearly all vegetables recorded, with a few exceptions where roots, flowers or fruits are eaten. There is little variation in the method of preparation for consumption. The main ingredients used in the cooking recipes include: groundnut flour, tomatos and onions. Oil is sometimes used instead of groundnuts. Soda is added to those vegetables that form a mucilaginous product after cooking. Some vegetables are dried before cooking, but the basic ingredients in their preparation are the same as those used with vegetables cooked fresh. The dried vegetables are often stored for consumption during the dry season when few indigenous vegetables are available.

The preliminary results of pilot seed production studies and agronomic studies of a few species suggest that there is great potential for improving both seed and edible leaf yields of these vegetables.

Future research activities

Many districts have not been yet been surveyed and detailed seed production and agronomic studies still need to be carried out. Hence continued funding of the project is required to sustain its activities for another 3 years. Now that the transport problem has been solved, countrywide field surveys are being carried out as envisaged in the project document, to develop a comprehensive list of indigenous vegetable species. Concurrent with this, seed multiplication and field agronomic studies are being intensified. In the near future, the field trials being carried out at Bunda will be repeated at other research stations and collaboration will be sought with Chitedze and other research stations.

The specific activities planned for the future include:

· collecting and cataloguing of indigenous vegetable germplasm in the districts where collecting has not yet been done

· seed multiplication of the collected germplasm

· seed quality evaluation of the germplasm samples

· field agronomic studies of seed production yield and quality of widely consumed indigenous vegetables

· evaluation of the nutritional quality of selected indigenous vegetables under different cooking and preservation methods.