| Abstrakt: |
In recent years, narrowing of agro-biodiversity, climate change and its variability are emerging as major challenges to Indian Agriculture. There are few crops which have potential for climate resilience but not exploited for cultivation. These crops are termed as underutilized crops (UUC) and categorized under five groups such as Pseudo Cereals (Grain Amaranth, Buck wheat and Grain Chenopods), Minor Cereal (Job's Tear), Food Legumes (Rice Bean, Faba Bean, Adzuki Bean and Winged Bean), Vegetables (Kankoda and Kalingada) and Oil Seed Crops (Perilla, Simarouba, Tumba, Jatropha and Ojoba). Of these crops, AICRN on Potential Crops, Bengaluru center is concentrating on Grain amaranth, Quinoa, Chia, Rice bean and Winged bean. The nutritional benefits and status of research on these crops in addition to challenges, researchable issues and strategies to promote underutilized crops in general are discussed in this paper. The review of work on these crops has indicated that these underutilized crops have potential to reduce food and nutrition insecurity and can help to combat effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
