Open AccessExtent of Utilization of Medicinal Plants among Rural Households in Imo State, Nigeria
Author(s) -
Samson Ejike Onu,
G O Mbah
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
journal of agricultural extension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.169
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2408-6851
pISSN - 1119-944X
DOI - 10.4314/jae.v22i1.16s
Subject(s) - medicinal plants , agriculture , descriptive statistics , multistage sampling , aloe vera , tobit model , overexploitation , toxicology , geography , systematic sampling , aromatic plants , socioeconomics , agricultural science , traditional medicine , biology , medicine , botany , mathematics , ecology , statistics , archaeology , pathology , sociology , econometrics
The study investigated the extent of utilization of medicinal plants among rural household in Imo State Nigeria. The study made use of multi- stage random sampling techniques in sampling 120 respondents in the study area. The data for the study were collected with the use of structured questionnaire and analysed using both descriptive (such as frequency, percentages and mean count) Results showed that the available medicinal plants in the study area were pawpaw (100.0%), mango (100.0%), bitter leaf (95.0%), cocoa (81.67%) and Uziza leaf (78.33%, avocado (71.33%) among others. The result further revealed that cocoa (x̄= 3.47), pawpaw (x̄= 3.33), avocado (x̄= 3.25), raphia palm (x̄= 3.15), bitter leaf (x̄= 3.10), aloe vera (x̄= 3.03), uziza leaf (x̄= 2.93), morringa (x̄= 2.70) were highly utilized in the study area. Tobit regression analysis revealed that age, household size, farming experience, income and education at significantly influenced the utilization of medicinal plants among the rural households in the study area. The study recommended that the conservation of medicinal plants should be pursued vigorously by both government and individuals via establishment of botanical gardens and horticultural centres in order safe guard them from indiscriminate use, overexploitation and destruction.Key Words: Medicinal plants, Availability and Rural households.