Overcoming Tribal Boundaries: The Biocultural Heritage of Foraging and Cooking Wild Vegetables among Four Pathan Groups in the Gadoon Valley, NW Pakistan

Abstract

The foraging and consumption of wild food plants is a long-standing tradition in many parts of the world and their importance in promoting food security has become more widely debated in recent years. The current study aimed to document, analyze, and interpret the traditional knowledge of non-cultivated vegetables among four Pathan tribes (Alisher Khel, Hadarzai, Haji Khel, and Umarzai) living in the Gadoon Valley, Swabi District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, NW Pakistan, and to evaluate how these practices vary among the considered tribal communities. A total of 104 informants were interviewed via a semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire and group discussions. The field survey was conducted from October 2018 to November 2020. Information about local names, growth habit, used plant parts, food/cooking details, medicinal perceptions, availability season, and market prices were collected. The field survey recorded 51 non-cultivated vegetables belonging to 24 botanical families, for which the frequently used plant parts included young leaves, stems, and flowers. The greatest number of use reports was recorded for Colocasia and the highest cultural index value was recorded for Rumex dentatus; the dominant botanical families were Asteraceae and Fabaceae (six species each). Seven species were found to be sold at local and regional markets. Cross-cultural analysis among the four considered tribes showed that the largest number of species was reported by members of the Hadarzai and Umarzai tribes, although most of the quoted wild vegetables were homogenously gathered among all considered communities, with some more idiosyncratic plant uses among the Umarzai group, who have likely been less affected by the erosion of traditional knowledge or possibly have had less access to traded cultivated vegetables. The novelty of the data was assessed by comparing it with the previously published wild food ethnobotanical literature of Pakistan, which showed fifteen new wild vegetables not yet reported in the NW of the country. The recorded food biocultural heritage should be seriously considered in future local development projects aimed at fostering environmental sustainability and food security.

Using mathematical models to evaluate germination rate and seedlings length of chickpea seed (Cicer arietinum L.) to osmotic stress at cardinal temperatures

“…Finding a suitable geographic location, where a species can germinate and be established successfully, required studying germination patterns under the influence of various abiotic factors. In this aspect mathematical model (TT, HT and HTT model) aids to determine and quantify the effect of these abiotic factors on seed germination time courses in seed lot [ 30 ]. Among these abiotic factors, T is one of the devastating stress affecting seed germinations in several plants [ 31 , 32 ].…”

“…The TT and HT concepts are successfully applied in many types of researches to explain SG behaviors at T (sub and supra) and Ψ . But the TT concept showed an error at suboptimal T s by not predicting the decline in GR when T s > T o [ 30 ]. As a result, the HTT model was developed by Bradford to overcome the problem [ 44 ].…”

“…As a result, the HTT model was developed by Bradford to overcome the problem [ 44 ]. Now the HTT concept is a robust method to study how the interaction of environmental factors ( T and Ψ ) influence SG in seed lot [ 20 and 30 ]. The hydrothermal time constant ( θ HTT) estimated for chickpea was 34.56 (MPa°Ch -1 ) ( Table 3 ).…”

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