Conservation and Use of Underutilized Crops: Challenges and Way Forward

This paper reinforces the importance of underutilized crops and the need for organized research efforts for their improvement. These include species also classified as underexploited crops, under-developed crops, underused crops, abandoned crops, lost crops, orphan crops, minor crops, traditional crops, forgotten crops, vanishing crops, local crops, indigenous crops, niche crops, life support species, poor people’s crops, subsistence crops, crops for future, nutri-rich crops, and new potential crops, which have great potential to be used in mainsteam agriculture. The domestication of new crops would promote agricultural diversity and could provide a solution to many of the problems associated with intensive agriculture. Being nutritionally very rich, they have proved good potential for food and nutritional security, health and income generation especially for local communities. The use of modern science to improve their productivity, value addition and use by agro-industries are new opportunities that need to be harnessed.