Food security and nutritional diversity in desert areas

Food security in desert is inextricably related to culture and ethnicity. Besides rice; corn, roots and tubers from garden and forest make up a great share of the bulky food. In times of shortage green leafy vegetables, ferns, mushrooms, wild stems and bulbs, jackfruit and so on are eaten in greater amounts as filling foods. The ratio of rice to non-rice staples, which always changes with season, has altered considerably over the last few years. There is high potential in respect of nutritional diversity in the desert areas. Therefore, when policies and projects are being planned, local conditions have to be acknowledged which gives better food security results particularly in desert areas.