THE ASSESSMENT OF THE INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE RURAL FARMERS OF EKITI STATE, NIGERIA ON Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii

An assessment of the indigenous knowledge of the rural farmers on Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii in Ekiti State, Nigeria was conducted through the use of a combination of direct field observation and interviews using semi-structured questionnaire matrix. The seasonal abundance of the species was also examined. Results obtained revealed that although all the respondents recognised the species yet involvement in the cultivation of the species, either from the seeds or through transplantation of the wildlings were very low and were skewed to older respondents. Field observation also revealed that none of the respondents was willing to cultivate the species in the study area. Factors currently served as disincentives to its cultivation included cultural stigmatization, its apparent lacks of economic and ethnomedicinal values and its poor reproductive nature. The results also revealed that the species was rare in the abundant scale utilised in this study in both seasons. The examination of the respondents’ indigenous knowledge on the species revealed that the older respondents demonstrated remarkable knowledge on the species. This knowledge included the species’ habit, occurrence, abundance, biology and folk importance. Conservation strategies were proposed based on the respondents’ indigenous knowledge.