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Underutilised crops: trends, challenges and opportunities in the 21st Century

Underutilised crops: trends, challenges and opportunities in the 21st Century
Underutilised crops: trends, challenges and opportunities in the 21st Century
Plant biodiversity represents the primary source for food, feed, shelter, medicines and many other products and means that make life on Earth possible and enjoyable (WCMC, 1992; UNEP 1995). The number of plant species used by humans around the world (Table 1) is only one third of the number of species which generations of diverse cultures around the world have drawn upon to develop crops that would meet specific needs. The centres of diversification of most common cultivated species are known today (Zeven and de Wet, 1982), but for many other species of local importance, the knowledge on the distribution of their genetic diversity and use patterns are still largely limited. Increased reliance on major food crops has been accompanied by a shrinking of the food basket which humankind has been relying upon for generations (Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen, 1990). This nutritional paradox (Ogle and Grivetti, 1995) has its roots in the agricultural “simplification”, a process that favoured some crops instead of others on the basis of their comparative advantages for growing in a wider range of habitats, their simple cultivation requirements, easier processing and storability, nutritional properties, taste, etc.
9780851995229
323-338
Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International
Padulosi, S.
14709d1b-1b75-47f8-b5b0-03d23baa7aee
Hodgkin, T.
b89c4a8b-e4ed-4bc7-806f-d099c896934c
Williams, J.T.
abd1c1d1-3216-4c13-b910-25336b2c2fa0
Haq, N.
d59a37ec-54c6-4267-be57-de498ae37c0b
Engels, J.
Rao, V.R.
Jackson, M.
Padulosi, S.
14709d1b-1b75-47f8-b5b0-03d23baa7aee
Hodgkin, T.
b89c4a8b-e4ed-4bc7-806f-d099c896934c
Williams, J.T.
abd1c1d1-3216-4c13-b910-25336b2c2fa0
Haq, N.
d59a37ec-54c6-4267-be57-de498ae37c0b
Engels, J.
Rao, V.R.
Jackson, M.

Padulosi, S., Hodgkin, T., Williams, J.T. and Haq, N. (2002) Underutilised crops: trends, challenges and opportunities in the 21st Century. In, Engels, J., Rao, V.R. and Jackson, M. (eds.) Managing plant genetic diversity. Wallingford, UK. Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, pp. 323-338.

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

Plant biodiversity represents the primary source for food, feed, shelter, medicines and many other products and means that make life on Earth possible and enjoyable (WCMC, 1992; UNEP 1995). The number of plant species used by humans around the world (Table 1) is only one third of the number of species which generations of diverse cultures around the world have drawn upon to develop crops that would meet specific needs. The centres of diversification of most common cultivated species are known today (Zeven and de Wet, 1982), but for many other species of local importance, the knowledge on the distribution of their genetic diversity and use patterns are still largely limited. Increased reliance on major food crops has been accompanied by a shrinking of the food basket which humankind has been relying upon for generations (Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen, 1990). This nutritional paradox (Ogle and Grivetti, 1995) has its roots in the agricultural “simplification”, a process that favoured some crops instead of others on the basis of their comparative advantages for growing in a wider range of habitats, their simple cultivation requirements, easier processing and storability, nutritional properties, taste, etc.

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Published date: 2002

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 53786
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/53786
ISBN: 9780851995229
PURE UUID: 742614b6-cd53-4980-85e8-67b583d3062a

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 28 Jul 2008
Last modified: 13 Dec 2023 17:51

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Contributors

Author: S. Padulosi
Author: T. Hodgkin
Author: J.T. Williams
Author: N. Haq
Editor: J. Engels
Editor: V.R. Rao
Editor: M. Jackson

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