CONTRIBUTIONS OF MADRID (PTEROCARPUS ERINACEOUS, POIR) TO COMMUNITY LIVELIHOODS IN TAKUM, TARABA STATE

Abstract

Pterocarpus erinaceous (Poir) also known as Madrid has been identified to contribute to community livelihoods. Such contributions are people as well as site specific and may be short-lived if continuous availability cannot be guaranteed. Information on the contributions of Pterocarpus erinaceous to community livelihoods is crucial to their sustainable management in
Takum. However, this contribution has not been properly documented in the study area. Therefore, contributions of Pterocarpus erinaceous to community livelihoods in Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State were investigated. A total of 160 semi-structured questionnaires were distributed to generate data for this study with only 154 retrieved. Data
generated was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the results were presented in frequency tables, Percentages, Bar chart and Pie chart for easy comprehension. Most of the respondents are youths and males who are singles with few that are married with moderate family size. P. erinaceous can both be found on mountains and lowland areas. Loading, skidding, felling and debarking are major activities associated with the harvesting of P. erinaceus in the study area. Similarly, a minimum amount of N1,000.00-N10,000.00 could be generated from the harvesting of P. erinaceus while problems such as bad roads, injuries from machine, accidents, fire out break militates against the harvesting of P.erinaceus. Also, parts of P. erinaceus such as seeds, leaves, branches, barks and roots are used by the respondents in the study area. The major contributions of P. erinaceus to community livelihoods in the study area are food, income, medicine and employment respectively(Table 1.1- 1.7 and Figure 1-6)