Description
It is well known fact that food and nutritional security on sustainable basis are the major challenges of the 21st century. Crops of major economic importance have been used, in reality, by the local population over generations and are being maintained by the indigenous farming communities in the most vulnerable areas. Occurrence of genetic resources of these potential crops are extremely important as they contributes significant toward the well being and livelihoods of the rural peoples because they have comparatively advantages in providing nutrious food, are affordable by the poor and more available both in time and space. They are also contributes to the diversity and stability of agro-ecosystems. These crops often play a strategic role in fragile ecosystem such as those of arid and semiarid lands, mountains, tropical region coastal regions. Most of these crops can be successfully grown in vulnerable, marginal, degraded and wasteland with minimal inputs. Growing of low input crops like Buckwheat, Job’s Tear, Chia, Adzukibean, Perrila, Faba bean, Adzuki bean, Amaranth, Quinoa, Drumstick, Sweet gourd etc. are not only restore soil fertility, with great extent of conserve the extinct plants species. In present day’s context, consume of these plant species provide the well balanced nutrition value with control of many modern life diseases including diabetics, heart diseases, dementia, parkinson, cancer, blindness, osteoporosis etc.
