Abstract
There is a remarkably high level of variation within cultivated sesame and sorghum in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan although the region is relatively small. The Nuba people are geographically isolated and culturally diverse in religion, language, material inventory, agricultural practices and in their rituals involving crop plants, and this contributes to the diversity in their cultivars. Nuba crop husbandry is sophisticated and high levels of genetic diversity are maintained by deliberate selection of crop varieties that are well adapted to each of the microenvironments of the region and best suited for different economic uses.
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Much of this report is based on field research carried out (by DB) in the Nuba Mountains between mid-October and mid-December 1979. The Sudanese government limits access to the area but special permission was received to travel there.
Most vernacular names in the text are in the Arabic language and are commonly used by Nuba and Arab alike.
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Bedigian, D., Harlan, J.R. Nuba agriculture and ethnobotany, with particular reference to sesame and sorghum. Econ Bot 37, 384–395 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02904199
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02904199