Diversity of local food crops in Central Java

Abstract

Food needs serious handling in responding to the challenges of environmental changes and population growth. The diversity of local food crops has the advantage as a source of nutrition and breeding materials. The research aims to determine diverse local food crops in Central Java. A total of 120 farmers were selected by purposive random sampling from Tegal, Brebes, Banjarnegara, and Karanganyar regency, based on different agro-ecological sequences. The field inventory found 257 varieties of 11 types of exotic crops. The compositions of local rice varieties (Indica and Javanica) included seven red rice, nine black rice, 27 white rice, 17 glutinous rice, one animal feed rice, three upland rice, and eight aromatic ones. The frequency of the species distribution rate proves was very narrow in Tegal-Brebes, limited in Banjarnegara, and spread evenly in Karanganyar. The Shannon Diversity Index revealed the diverse species in a region. Banjarnegara had the highest species abundance index. The relationship between the Shannon Diversity Index and Equitability Index illustrates the dominant types of local food plants, especially in Karanganyar dominated by rice. The Sorensen Similarity Coefficient was used to estimate the level of structural similarity between species and regions. Tegal-Brebes have similar species composition and agro-ecological.