Ensete ventricosum

{{short description|Species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae}} {{Copy edit|date=July 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{speciesbox | image = Ensete (4731675777).jpg | image_caption = ''Ensete ventricosum'' in Mozambique | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=Williams, E. |year=2017 |title=''Ensete ventricosum'' |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T22486245A22486942 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22486245A22486942.en |access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref> | genus = Ensete | species = ventricosum | authority = (Welw.) Cheesman | synonyms = {{collapsible list|* ''Ensete arnoldianum'' (De Wild.) Cheesman * ''Ensete bagshawei'' (Rendle & Greves) Cheesman * ''Ensete buchananii'' (Baker) Cheesman * ''Ensete davyae'' (Stapf) Cheesman * ''Ensete edule'' Bruce ex Horan. * ''Ensete fecundum'' (Stapf) Cheesman * ''Ensete holstii'' (K.Schum.) Cheesman * ''Ensete laurentii'' (De Wild.) Cheesman * ''Ensete proboscideum'' (Oliv.) Cheesman * ''Ensete ruandense'' (De Wild.) Cheesman * ''Ensete rubronervatum'' (De Wild.) Cheesman * ''Ensete schweinfurthii'' (K.Schum. & Warb.) Cheesman * ''Ensete ulugurense'' (Warb. & Moritz) Cheesman * ''Ensete ventricosum'' var. ''montbeliardii'' (Bois) Cufod. * ''Mnasium theophrasti'' Pritz. [Invalid] * ''Musa arnoldiana'' De Wild. * ''Musa bagshawei'' Rendle & Greves * ''Musa buchananii'' Baker * ''Musa davyae'' Stapf * ''Musa ensete'' J.F.Gmel. * ''Musa fecunda'' Stapf * ''Musa holstii'' K.Schum. * ''Musa kaguna'' Chiov. * ''Musa laurentii'' De Wild. * ''Musa martretiana'' A.Chev. * ''Musa proboscidea'' Oliv. * ''Musa ruandensis'' De Wild. * ''Musa rubronervata'' De Wild. * ''Musa schweinfurthii'' K.Schum. & Warb. * ''Musa ulugurensis'' Warb. & Moritz * ''Musa ventricosa'' Welw. }} | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-243317|title=The Plant List: A Working List of all Plant Species}}</ref> }}

'''''Ensete ventricosum''''', commonly known as '''enset''' or '''ensete''', '''Ethiopian banana''', '''Abyssinian banana''',<ref name=GRIN> {{GRIN | access-date = 20 December 2017}}</ref> '''pseudo-banana''', '''false banana''' and '''wild banana''',<ref name = "SANBI" > {{ Cite web | language = en | access-date = 2022-12-04 | publisher = South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) | website = PlantZAfrica | url = https://pza.sanbi.org/ensete-ventricosum | title = ''Ensete ventricosum'' }} </ref> is a species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae. The only country where the domesticated form of the plant is cultivated is Ethiopia, where it provides the staple food for approximately 20 million people.<ref name="Wilkin-2019">{{Cite journal|last1=Wilkin|first1=Paul|last2=Demissew|first2=Sebsebe|last3=Willis|first3=Kathy|last4=Woldeyes|first4=Feleke|last5=Davis|first5=Aaron P.|last6=Molla|first6=Ermias L.|last7=Janssens|first7=Steven|last8=Kallow|first8=Simon|last9=Berhanu|first9=Admas|title=Enset in Ethiopia: a poorly characterized but resilient starch staple|journal=Annals of Botany|volume=123|issue=5|pages=747–766|language=en|doi=10.1093/aob/mcy214|pmid=30715125|pmc=6526316|year=2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-60091991|title = A 'banana falsa' que pode ser solução para alimentar milhões|newspaper = BBC News Brasil}}</ref> The name ''Ensete ventricosum'' was first published in the Kew Bulletin<ref name="Cheesman_1947">{{cite journal |last1=Cheesman |first1=E. E. |title=Classification of the bananas |journal=Kew Bulletin |date=1947 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=97–106 |doi=10.2307/4109206 |jstor=4109206 }}</ref> 1947, p.&nbsp;101. Its synonyms include ''Musa arnoldiana'' De Wild., ''Musa ventricosa'' Welw. and ''Musa ensete'' J. F. Gmelin.<ref>Wikipedia DE{{Circular reference|date=September 2015}}</ref> In its wild form, it is native to the eastern edge of the Great African Plateau, extending northwards from South Africa through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to Ethiopia, and west to the Congo, being found in high-rainfall forests on mountains, and along forested ravines and streams.<ref name="Wilkin-2019" /> == Discovery == In 1769, the celebrated Scottish traveller James Bruce first sent a description of a plant common in the marshes around Gondar in Abyssinia (a historical region which includes Ethiopia), pronouncing it to be "no species of ''Musa''" and wrote that its local name was "ensete". In 1853, the British Consul at Mussowah sent some seeds to Kew Gardens, mentioning that their native name was ''ansett''. Kew did not make the connection to bananas until they germinated and grew in size.

Bruce also discussed the plant's place in the mythology of Egypt and pointed out that some Egyptian carvings depict the goddess Isis sitting among the leaves of what was thought to be a banana plant, a plant native to Southeast Asia and not known in Ancient Egypt.<ref>''Curtis's Botanical Magazine'' vol. 87 (1861)</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encbritannica12macf|page=[https://archive.org/details/encbritannica12macf/page/469 469]|quote=Maitsha Ethiopia.|title=Encyclopædia Britannica: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature|first1=Colin|last1=Macfarquhar|first2=George|last2=Gleig|date=4 June 1797|publisher=A. Bell and C. Macfarquhar|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

== Description == Like the banana, ''Ensete ventricosum'' is a large non-wood plant—a large monocarpic evergreen perennial<ref name=RHSAZ />—up to {{convert|6|m|0|abbr=on}} tall. The tallest to be reported was {{cvt|13|m}}.<ref>{{ cite book | last1= Brenan | first1= J.P.N. | last2= Greenway | first2= P.J. | date=1949 | title= Checklists of the Forest Trees and Shrubs of the British Empire - #5 - Tanganyika Territory - Part 2 | location= Oxford, England | publisher= Imperial Forestry Institute | page= 364}}</ref> It has a stout pseudostem of tightly overlapping leaf bases, and large banana-like leaf blades of up to {{convert|5|m|0|abbr=on}} tall by {{convert|1|m|0|abbr=on}} wide; leaves up to {{cvt|6|m}} long and up to {{cvt|1.5|m}} wide have been reported.<ref>{{cite journal | last= Joret | first= Henry | date= November 5, 1888 | title= Le Bananier | journal= Le Naturaliste | volume= 2| page= 258 }}</ref> The flowers, which occur only once from the centre of the plant at the end of that plant's life, are in large pendant thyrses up to {{cvt|3|m}} long, bearing 30 or more "hands" of young bananas which are covered by large pink bracts. The roots are an important foodstuff, but the fruits are inedible<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=5700|title=''Ensete ventricosum''|website=ecocrop.fao.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630185752/http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=5700|archive-date=2018-06-30}}</ref> and have hard, black, rounded seeds.

The Latin specific epithet ''ventricosum'' means "with a swelling on the side, like a belly".<ref name=RHSLG>{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Lorraine |title=RHS Latin for Gardeners |year=2012 |publisher=Mitchell Beazley |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-84533-731-5 }}</ref>

=== Pests === The most common pest that threatens enset is caused by the ''Cataenococcus enset'', which is a root mealybug. ''C. enset'' feeds on the roots and corm of the enset plant, which leads to slower growth and easier uprooting. Even though enset can be infested at all age stages, the highest risk is between the second or fourth growth year.<ref name="Reddy-2015">{{Cite book|title=Plant protection in tropical root and tuber crops|last=P.|first=Parvatha Reddy|isbn=978-81-322-2389-4|location=New Delhi|oclc=910878064|date=2015-06-05}}</ref> The dispersion of the mealybug occurs through multiple vectors: First, the larvae can crawl short distances before settling down;<ref name="Reddy-2015" /> adult mealybugs tend to move only after being disturbed.<ref name="Addis-2008">{{Cite journal|last1=Addis|first1=Temesgen|last2=Azerefegne|first2=Ferdu|last3=Blomme|first3=Guy|last4=Kanaujia|first4=K|date=2008|title=Biology of the Enset Root Mealybug ''Cataenococcus ensete'' and its Geographical Distribution in Southern Ethiopia |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266582883|journal=Journal of Applied Biosciences|volume=8 |issue=1|pages=251–260|via=ResearchGate}}</ref> Second, mealybug-ant symbiotic relationships can be linked to enset infestation and protect and even transport the mealybug over short distances. In return, they feed on the mealybug honeydew. Third, flooding events can transport the mealybug over longer distances and reach enset plants. However, the main transport vectors are unclean working tools and the usage of already infected suckers.<ref name="Reddy-2015" /> This means that the best way to get rid of the bug and to limit its propagation is to uproot the plant and burn it.<ref name="Assoma">{{Cite book|title=Adaptation and Change in Enset Ecology and Farming Among the Kore of Southwestern Ethiopia |first1=Awoke Amzaye |last1=Assoma |first2=Barry S. |last2=Hewlett|oclc=1056710194}}</ref><ref name="Addis-2010">{{Cite journal|last1=Addis|first1=T|last2=Azerefegne|first2=F|last3=Blomme|first3=G|date=2010-05-11|title=Density and distribution on enset root mealybugs on enset |journal=African Crop Science Journal|volume=16|issue=1|doi=10.4314/acsj.v16i1.54344 |doi-access=free|hdl=1807/47442|hdl-access=free}}</ref> In addition, the fields can be kept free of plant growth for a month since the mealybug can survive up to only three weeks without plant material.<ref name="Reddy-2015" /><ref name="Addis-2008" />

Other pests include nematodes, spider mites, aphids, mole-rats, porcupines and wild pigs. The latter erode the corm and pseudostem.<ref name="Reddy-2015" /> As for the nematodes, there are two predominant species: there are the root lesion nematodes (''Pratylenchus goodeyi'') and the root-knot nematodes (''Meloidogyne'' sp.) and their appearance stands in connection with bacterial wilt.<ref name="Reddy-2015" /> ''Pratylenchus goodeyi'' create lesion on the corm and roots, which can lead to cavities up to {{cvt|2|cm}} and characteristic purple colouring around the cavities. The nematode infestation leads to the easy uprooting of the affected plants. Crop rotation can counteract high nematode infestations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Peregrine|first1=W. T. H.|last2=Bridge|first2=John|date=January 1992|title=The lesion nematode ''Pratylenchus goodeyian'' important pest of Ensete in Ethiopia |journal=Tropical Pest Management |volume=38|issue=3|pages=325–326|doi=10.1080/09670879209371719 }}</ref>

=== Diseases === [[File:Platano Colombia1 (4875321613).jpg|thumb|Black sigatoka leaf streak]] The enset plant can be subject to multiple diseases that threaten its use in agriculture.<ref name="Negash-2004">{{Cite journal|last1=Negash|first1=Almaz|last2=Niehof|first2=Anke|date=2004|title=The significance of enset culture and biodiversity for rural household food and livelihood security in southwestern Ethiopia |journal=Agriculture and Human Values|volume=21|issue=1|pages=61–71|doi=10.1023/b:ahum.0000014023.30611.ad|bibcode=2004AgrHV..21...61N |s2cid=153467789 }}</ref><ref name="Addis-2010" /> The most well known of them is the infection by the bacteria ''Xanthomonas campestris'' pathovar Musacerum which creates bacterial wilt, also known as borijje and wol'a by the Koore people.<ref name="Assoma" /> The first observation of this disease was reported by Yirgou and Bradbury in 1968.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yirgou|first1=D.|last2=Bradbury|first2=J. F.|date=1974-03-19|title=A Note on Wilt of Banana Caused by the Enset Wilt Organism ''Xanthomonas musacearum''|journal=East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal|volume=40|issue=1|pages=111–114|doi=10.1080/00128325.1974.11662720 |bibcode=1974EAAFJ..40..111Y }}</ref> The manifestation of the bacterial wilt is taking place in the apical leaves that will wilt then dry and finally lead to the drying of the whole plant.<ref name="Assoma" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nakato|first1=Valentine|last2=Mahuku|first2=George|last3=Coutinho|first3=Teresa|date=2017-09-20|title=''Xanthomonas campestris'' pv. ''musacearum'': a major constraint to banana, plantain and enset production in central and east Africa over the past decade |journal=Molecular Plant Pathology|volume=19|issue=3|pages=525–536|doi=10.1111/mpp.12578|pmid=28677256 |pmc=6638165}}</ref> The only way to avoid the spreading of the disease is in uprooting, burning and burying plants as well as in applying strict control of the knives and tools used to harvest and treat the plants.

Other diseases have been observed, such as Okka and Woqa, which occur respectively in cases of severe drought and in situations of too much water in the soil, which causes the proliferation of bacteria. These problems can be solved by either watering the field when drought is present or draining the soil to avoid too much water.<ref name="Assoma" />

Another disease can strike enset even though it has been more observed on banana plants (Musaceae). This disease is caused by Mycosphaerella spp. and is commonly called black sigatoka leaf streaks. The symptoms are basically dark/brown lesions surrounded by yellow on the leaves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gurmu|first1=Tadesse|last2=Adugna|first2=Girma|last3=Berecha|first3=Gezahegn|date=2016-12-28|title=Black Sigatoka leaf streaks of banana (''Musa'' spp.) caused by ''Mycosphaerella fijiensis'' in Ethiopia |journal=Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection|volume=124|issue=3|pages=245–253|doi=10.1007/s41348-016-0070-8|s2cid=91077470 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Diseases of banana, abacá, and enset|date=1999|publisher=CABI Publishing |last=Jones |first=David Robert |isbn=978-0-85199-355-3|location=Wallingford, Oxon, UK|pages=44–48|chapter=Black leaf streak: Symptoms|oclc=41347037}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Marín|first1=Douglas H.|last2=Romero|first2=Ronald A.|last3=Guzmán|first3=Mauricio|last4=Sutton|first4=Turner B.|date=2003|title=Black Sigatoka: An Increasing Threat to Banana Cultivation |journal=Plant Disease|publisher=American Phytopathological Society (APS)|volume=87|issue=3|pages=208–222|doi=10.1094/pdis.2003.87.3.208|pmid=30812750|issn=0191-2917|doi-access=|bibcode=2003PlDis..87..208M }}</ref><ref>Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoRA). (2009). Crop variety register issue No. 12. pp. 157–159.</ref> This disease happens to be favoured by high rainfall and lower temperature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Swennen |first1=R. |last2=Vuylsteke |first2=D. |title=Breeding Black Sigatoka resistant plantains with a wild banana |journal=Tropical Agriculture |date=1993 |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=74–77}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tushemereirwe|first1=W. K.|last2=Waller|first2=J. M.|date=1993|title=Black leaf streak (''Mycosphaerella fijiensis'') in Uganda |journal=Plant Pathology|volume=42|issue=3|pages=471–472|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3059.1993.tb01525.x |bibcode=1993PPath..42..471T }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zandjanakou-Tachin|first1=M.|last2=Ojiambo|first2=P. S.|last3=Vroh-Bi|first3=I.|last4=Tenkouano|first4=A.|last5=Gumedzoe|first5=Y. M.|last6=Bandyopadhyay|first6=R.|date=2012-07-02|title=Pathogenic variation of ''Mycosphaerella'' species infecting banana and plantain in Nigeria |journal=Plant Pathology|publisher=American Phytopathological Society (APS)|volume=62|issue=2|pages=298–308|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3059.2012.02650.x |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Relation to humans== [[File:WomanEnset.jpg|left|thumb|A Kambaata woman extracting the edible part of an enset with a traditional tool (SNNPR, Ethiopia)]] ===Food=== Enset is a very important local food source, especially in Ethiopia. In 1995, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that "enset provides more amount of foodstuff per unit area than most cereals. It is estimated that 40 to 60 enset plants occupying {{convert|250|-|375|m2|-2}} can provide enough food for a family of 5 to 6 people."<ref>Country Information Brief, FAO June 1995.</ref>{{verification failed|date=August 2022}}

Enset is Ethiopia's most important root crop, a traditional staple in the densely populated south and southwestern parts of Ethiopia.<ref>Richard Pankhurst, ''Economic History of Ethiopia'' (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University, 1968), p. 194. Pankhurst uses the taxononym ''Musa ensete''.</ref> Its importance to the diet and economy of the Gurage and Sidama peoples was first recorded by Jerónimo Lobo in the seventeenth century.<ref>Jerónimo Lobo, ''The Itinerário of Jerónimo Lobo'', translated by Donald M. Lockhart (London: Hakluyt Society, 1984), pp. 245f</ref> Each plant takes four to five years to mature, at which time a single root will yield about {{cvt|40|kg}} of food. Because of the long period of time from planting to harvest, plantings need to be staggered over time to ensure that there is enset available for harvest in every season. Enset will tolerate drought better than most cereal crops.

Wild enset plants are produced from seeds, while most domesticated plants are propagated from suckers. Up to 400 suckers can be produced from just one mother plant. In 1994, {{cvt|3000|km2}} of enset were grown in Ethiopia, with a harvest estimated to be almost {{convert|10|t/ha}}. Enset is often intercropped with sorghum, although the practice amongst the Gedeo people is to intercrop it with coffee.<ref>Kippie Kanshie, T. [http://www.treemail.nl/download/treebook5.pdf "Five thousand years of sustainability? A case study on Gedeo land use"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928100547/http://www.treemail.nl/download/treebook5.pdf |date=28 September 2011 }} (PhD dissertation: May 2002), p. 38</ref>

The young and tender tissues in the centre or heart of the plant (the growing point) are cooked and eaten, being nutritious and like the core of palms and cycads. In Ethiopia, more than {{convert|150000|ha|acre mi2}} are cultivated for the starchy staple food prepared from the pulverised trunk and inflorescence stalk. Fermenting these pulverised parts results in a food called kocho. ''Bulla'' is made from the liquid squeezed out of the mixture and sometimes eaten as a porridge, while the remaining solids are suitable for consumption after a settling period of some days. Mixed kocho and bulla can be kneaded into dough, then flattened and baked over a fire. Kocho is in places regarded as a delicacy, suitable for serving at feasts and ceremonies such as weddings, {{Cn-span|when wheat flour is added|date=February 2025}}. The fresh corm is cooked like potatoes before eating. Dry kocho and bulla are energy-rich and produce from {{cvt|14|to|20|kJ/g}}.

Because of the use of bare feet and hands to cultivate the plant, foodborne disease such as Enterobacteriaceae can become problematic during the ensete fermentation process.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seboka |first1=Dereba Workineh |last2=Bejiga |first2=Abay Tabor |last3=Turunesh |first3=Debela Jufar |last4=Turito |first4=Andualem Arimo|last5=Girma |first5=Abayeneh |date=2023-10-19 |title=Microbial and physicochemical dynamics of Kocho, fermented food from enset |journal=International Journal of Microbiology |volume=2023 |issue=1 |publisher=Wiley |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1155/2023/6645989 |doi-access=free |pmid=37901594 }}</ref> This has led to more recent efforts by food scientists to develop improved hygienic devices with reduced potential for contamination, such as that which won the USAID funded "Feed the Future EatSafe Innovation Challenge" in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |last= Ud-Din |first= Iqra Riaz |date=2023-02-16 |title= Ethiopian woman inventor wins USAID challenge |url=https://thediplomaticinsight.com/ethiopian-woman-inventor-wins-usaid-challenge/ |website=The Diplomatic Insight |location=Islamabad, Pakistan |publisher=Diplomatic Insight Pvt. Limited |access-date= 2026-05-29}}</ref>

It is a major crop, although often supplemented with cereal crops.<ref>Kippie Kanshie, T. "Five thousand years", p. 19</ref> However, its value as a famine food has fallen for a number of reasons, as detailed in the April 2003 issue of the UN-OCHA Ethiopia unit's ''Focus on Ethiopia'': <blockquote>Apart from an enset plant disease epidemic in 1984–85, which wiped out large parts of the plantations and created the green famine, in the past 10 years major factors were recurrent drought and food shortage together with acute land shortage that forced farmers more and more into consumption of immature plants. Hence, farmers were overexploiting their Enset reserves, thereby causing gradual losses and disappearance of the false banana as an important household food security reserve. Even though not all the plant losses can be attributed to drought and land shortage, and hence early consumption of immature crops, estimations go as far as more than 60% of the false banana crop stands have been lost in some areas in SNNPR during the last 10 years. This basically means that a great many people who used to close the food gap with false banana consumption are not able to do so any more, and lacking a viable alternative, have become food insecure and highly vulnerable to climatic and economic disruptions of their agricultural system.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20041024232306/http://www.ocha-eth.org/Archive/2003ArchiveFOE.htm "Enset as staple food not valuable anymore to bridge food gap", ''Focus on Ethiopia'', April 2003]}}, UN-OCHA-Ethiopia (accessed 3 March 2009)</ref></blockquote>

A good quality fibre, suitable for ropes, twine, baskets, and general weaving, is obtained from the leaves. Dried leaf-sheaths are used as packing material, serving the same function as Western foam plastic and polystyrene. The entire plant except for the roots is used to feed livestock.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://database.prota.org/PROTAhtml/Ensete%20ventricosum_En.htm|title=Plant Resources of Tropical Africa}}</ref><ref name="Feedipedia">Heuzé V., Thiollet H., Tran G., Hassoun P., Lebas F., 2016. Enset (''Ensete ventricosum'') corms and pseudostems. Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ, and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/21251</ref> Fresh leaves are a common fodder for cattle during the dry season,<ref name="Feedipedia" /> and many farmers feed their animals with residues of enset harvest or processing.<ref name="Feedipedia" />

=== Socio-cultural importance of enset in Ethiopia === Enset cultivation in Ethiopia is reported to be 10,000 years old, though there is little empirical evidence to support this.<ref name="Brandt-1997">''Brandt, S. A., Spring, A., Hiebsch, C., McCabe, J. T., Tabogie, E., Diro, M., … Tesfaye, S. (1997). The "Tree Against Hunger," 66.''</ref><ref name="Tsegaye-2002">{{Cite book|title=On indigenous production, genetic diversity and crop ecology of enset (''Ensete ventricosum'' (Welw.) Cheesman)|last=Tsegaye |first=Admasu |date=2002|publisher=s.n. |isbn=978-90-5808-628-0|oclc=906993853}}</ref><ref name="Assoma" /> It has major economic, social, cultural, and environmental functions related to trade, medicine, cultural identity, rituals or settlement patterns.<ref name="Brandt-1997" /><ref name="Assoma" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Borrell|first1=James S.|last2=Goodwin|first2=Mark|last3=Blomme|first3=Guy|last4=Jacobsen|first4=Kim|last5=Wendawek|first5=Abebe M.|last6=Gashu|first6=Dawd|last7=Lulekal|first7=Ermias|last8=Asfaw|first8=Zemede|last9=Demissew|first9=Sebsebe|last10=Wilkin|first10=Paul|title=Enset-based agricultural systems in Ethiopia: A systematic review of production trends, agronomy, processing and the wider food security applications of a neglected banana relative|journal=Plants, People, Planet|year=2020|volume=2|issue=3|language=en|pages=212–228|doi=10.1002/ppp3.10084 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2020PlPPl...2..212B |hdl=10568/106484|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

The Enset-planting complex is one of the four farming systems of Ethiopia together with pastoralism, shifting cultivation and the seed-farming complex. It is widely used by around 20 million people, representing 20-25% of the population. They mainly live in the densely populated highlands of south and southwest Ethiopia.<ref name="Tsegaye-2002"/><ref name="Assoma" />

The plant is integral to food security due to its resistance to droughts, during which the growth stops for only a short time; and the fact that it can be harvested at any development stage.<ref name="Tsegaye-2002"/> However, in recent years, the population growth has put pressure on enset cultivation systems, mainly because of a decrease of fertilization through manure and an increase in demand, especially during droughts. At such times, enset becomes the only resource available.<ref name="Tsegaye-2002"/>

==== Gender in enset cultivation ==== Gender roles in enset cultivation are of high importance,<ref name="Brandt-1997" /> as a strong division of work exists. Men are generally responsible for the propagation, cultivation, and transplanting of enset, while women are in charge of manuring, hand-weeding, thinning and landrace selection.<ref name="Assoma" /><ref name="Tsegaye-2002"/> Additionally, women process enset plants, which is a tedious work (transformation of the plant into useful material, principally food and fibres) for which they generally come together. Men are disallowed to be on the field during this process.<ref name="Brandt-1997" /><ref name="Tsegaye-2002"/><ref name="Assoma" /> As women are responsible to provide sufficient food to their family, they are the ones who choose when and which plant to harvest and which quantity to sell.<ref name="Negash-2004" />

Several studies state the importance of women's knowledge on the different crop varieties. Women are more likely than men to recognize precisely the different varieties of the plant.<ref name="Brandt-1997" /><ref name="Negash-2004" /><ref name="Tsegaye-2002"/> Nevertheless, women's work is often neglected or considered of lesser importance than men's by researchers and farmers<ref name="Brandt-1997" /> and women are less likely to get access to extension services and quality services than are men.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ragasa|first1=Catherine|last2=Berhane|first2=Guush|last3=Tadesse|first3=Fanaye|last4=Taffesse|first4=Alemayehu Seyoum|date=October 2013|title=Gender Differences in Access to Extension Services and Agricultural Productivity |journal=The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension |volume=19|issue=5|pages=437–468|doi=10.1080/1389224x.2013.817343|bibcode=2013JAgEE..19..437R |s2cid=18286376 |url=http://cdm15738.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p15738coll2/id/127328/filename/127539.pdf}}</ref>

Another important aspect in which gender plays a role is in the classification of enset varieties. There are differentiated "male" and "female" varieties, according to the preferences of men and women who harvest them.<ref name="Negash-2004" /> Oftentimes, men prefer late maturing genotypes resistant to diseases, while women prefer varieties that are good for cooking and can be harvested for consumption at an earlier stage.<ref name="Negash-2004" />

=== Enset biodiversity and socio-cultural and -economic groups === Over 300 enset varieties have been recorded in Ethiopia,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yemataw|first1=Zerihun|last2=Tesfaye|first2=Kassahun|last3=Zeberga|first3=Awole|last4=Blomme|first4=Guy|date=2016-09-01|title=Exploiting indigenous knowledge of subsistence farmers' for the management and conservation of Enset (''Ensete ventricosum'' (Welw.) Cheesman) (Musaceae family) diversity on-farm|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine|volume=12|issue=1|page=34|doi=10.1186/s13002-016-0109-8|pmid=27586388|pmc=5009499 |doi-access=free }}</ref> which is important for agro- and biodiversity. The farmers' main interest for maintaining biodiversity is the different beneficial characteristics of each variety.<ref name="Negash-2004" /> This means that Ethiopian farmers spread important characteristics over many enset varieties instead of combining a number of desired characteristics in one single genotype.<ref name="Negash-2004" /> This is a significant difference between Ethiopian subsistence farmers' and plant breeders' approaches.

More than 11 ethnic groups with different cultures, traditions, and agricultural systems inhabit the enset-growing regions. This contributes to the high number of varieties.<ref name="Tsegaye-2002"/> Over centuries, the different ethnic groups have applied their specific indigenous knowledge of farming systems in order to sustain production in various ways. A dying out of enset varieties would hence also make disappear a part of cultural practices and linguistic terms in Ethiopia (Negash et al., 2004).<ref name="Negash-2004" />

Enset biodiversity is preserved due to not only the presence of different ethnic groups but also different households' wealth status. Richer farmers can generally afford to maintain a higher level of farm biodiversity because they have more resources such as land, labour and livestock. Therefore, they can cultivate more varieties with differing specific characteristics.<ref name="Tsegaye-2002" /> However, also poorer households try to maintain as many clones as possible by selecting the disease-resistant first.<ref name="Negash-2004" />

=== Ornamental use === The plant is quick-growing and often cultivated as an ornamental plant. In frost-prone areas, it requires winter protection under glass.<ref name=RHSAZ>{{cite book|title=RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants|year=2008|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=United Kingdom|isbn=978-1-4053-3296-5|page=1136}}</ref> It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit,<ref>{{cite web|title=''Ensete ventricosum''|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/6397/Ensete-ventricosum/Details|publisher=Royal Horticultural Society|access-date=7 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 35 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 6 February 2018}}</ref> as has the cultivar 'Maurelii' (Ethiopian black banana)<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/118143/Ensete-ventricosum-Maurelii/Details | title = ''Ensete ventricosum'' 'Maurelii' | publisher = RHS | access-date = 7 June 2020}}</ref>

== Gallery == <gallery> File:Ensete ventricosum - Val Rahmeh - DSC04278.JPG|Specimen in Jardin botanique exotique de Menton, Alpes-Maritimes, France File:Ensete ventricosum - Flower detail 2.jpg|Flower detail File:Ensete (4731675777).jpg|Plant on Mount Tsetserra, Mozambique File:Ensete ventricosum - "stem".jpg|Stem detail File:Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii'.jpg|''Ensete ventricosum'' 'Maurelii', a cultivar that is hardy to zones 9-11 </gallery>

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== External links == {{Commons category}} *{{Wikispecies-inline}} * {{AfricanPlants|Ensete ventricosum}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q199075}}

ventricosum Category:Afromontane flora Category:Flora of East Tropical Africa Category:Flora of Northeast Tropical Africa Category:Flora of South Tropical Africa Category:Flora of West-Central Tropical Africa Category:Trees of Africa Category:Tropical fruit Category:Ethiopian cuisine Category:Garden plants of Africa Category:Plants described in 1859 Category:Taxa named by Friedrich Welwitsch