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| Title: | Challenges of domesticating wild plants: the case of the Devil's Claw ('Harpagophytum' spp.) in the Kalahari desert ecosystem |
| Authors: | Mwandemele, Osmund D. Mshigeni, K.E. Kosina, P. Kamburona, C. |
| Year: | 2006 |
| Periodical: | Discovery and Innovation (ISSN 1015-079X) |
| Volume: | 18 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Period: | September |
| Pages: | 175-181 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs., ills. |
| Geographic terms: | Namibia Southern Africa |
| Subjects: | medicinal plants science and technology Harpagophytum spp. Native plants |
| External link: | https://www.ajol.info/index.php/dai/article/view/15743 |
| Abstract: | This paper summarizes the results of research into the promotion of the domestication and cultivation of Devil's Claw ('Harpagophytum' spp.), a medicinal plant which is rapidly becoming an endangered species in Namibia and vicinity, due to overexploitation. The research activities included exploring the possibility of growing the plant as a cash crop by resource-poor communal farmers, who are currently involved in the harvesting of the plant in the wild. This entailed conducting germination tests, as well as adopting the use of tissue culture technology, in an effort to develop better propagation methodologies for cultivating the plant. It appeared to be possible to attain germination rates of up to 31.8 percent, the highest recorded in the literature, by simply treating the plant's seeds with the ordinary commercial bleach, sodium hypochlorite. The generation of Devils's Claw plants through tissue culture offers opportunities for multiple production of healthy seedlings for distribution to farmers. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract] |