Agrobiodiversity in the Homegardens of Chirakkarai Village, Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu, India

A floristic survey was conducted to assess the agrobiodiversity in the homegardens of Chirakkarai village, Kanyakumari district. Two hundred and thirty eight plant species belonging to 194 genera and 81 families were collected from 5 homegardens. Among these, 49 species (20.59%) were trees, 58 (24.37%) shrubs, 102 (42.86%) herbs and 29 (12.18%) were climbers including lianas. Of the economically important species, medicinal plant ranked first with 98 species (41.18%) followed by 74 species of fodder value and 37 species (15.55%) were of ornamental importance. The results inferred that homegardens are rich in agrobiodiversity and are interesting for ethnobotanical research, and need to be considered for in situ conservation and development programmes.