PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 8:23 PM by Tevita

IMPORTANCE OF UNDER-UTILIZED INDIGENOUS LEGUMES IN ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

From : ISHS

Authors:
C.L.L. Gowda, H.D. Upadhyaya, M.A. Ghaffar
Keywords:
Indigenous legumes, human nutrition, value-addition, commercialization

Abstract:

Food legumes constitute a major crop group in the Asia-Pacific region because of their unique features including their role in human and animal nutrition, nitrogen fixation, adaptation to stress conditions, suitability to various cropping systems, and for overall sustainability of agricultural production systems. Most countries in the region have attained self-sufficiency in staple cereal crops production. However, the availability of legumes is low, and many countries are importing legumes costing huge amounts in foreign exchange. Dependence on a few legumes in production and market chain, and high demand has lead to increased price for legumes, and thus the poor rural and urban families cannot afford to eat legumes to the desired level (to meet protein needs). Only a handful of legumes are grown on large areas and enter commercial markets. There are many indigenous food legumes whose potential is under exploited and untapped. Many of these indigenous food legumes play a vital role in protein nutrition to poor farm families, especially to women and children, in the region. Looking at the total area cultivated and production, legumes such as soybean, groundnut, chickpea, lentil, common bean, field peas, chickpea, and pigeonpea can be considered as major legume crops. Other legumes that are indigenous and under-exploited are: Adzuki bean, bambara groundnut, blackgram, broadbean (faba bean), horsegram, lablab bean, lathyrus, moth bean, rice bean, and winged bean. Not all of them are indigenous (in the sense of origin), but have been cultivated in the region for more than 200-300 years. Hence, all these are considered indigenous for the purpose of this paper and their potential for expanding the food basket and commercialization in Asia-Pacific region is discussed.



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DIVA-GIS	Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Posted 8:23 PM by Tevita IMPORTANCE OF UNDER-UTILIZED INDIGENOUS LEGUMES IN ASIA-PACIFIC REGION From : ISHS Authors: C.L.L. Gowda, H.D. Upadhyaya, M.A. Ghaffar Keywords: Indigenous legumes, human nutrition, value-addition, commercialization Abstract: Food legumes constitute a major crop group in the Asia-Pacific region because of their unique features including their role in human and animal nutrition, nitrogen fixation, adaptation to stress conditions, suitability to various cropping systems, and for overall sustainability of agricultural production systems. Most countries in the region have attained self-sufficiency in staple cereal crops production. However, the availability of legumes is low, and many countries are importing legumes costing huge amounts in foreign exchange. Dependence on a few legumes in production and market chain, and high demand has lead to increased price for legumes, and thus the poor rural and urban families cannot afford to eat legumes to the desired level (to meet protein needs). Only a handful of legumes are grown on large areas and enter commercial markets. There are many indigenous food legumes whose potential is under exploited and untapped. Many of these indigenous food legumes play a vital role in protein nutrition to poor farm families, especially to women and children, in the region. Looking at the total area cultivated and production, legumes such as soybean, groundnut, chickpea, lentil, common bean, field peas, chickpea, and pigeonpea can be considered as major legume crops. Other legumes that are indigenous and under-exploited are: Adzuki bean, bambara groundnut, blackgram, broadbean (faba bean), horsegram, lablab bean, lathyrus, moth bean, rice bean, and winged bean. Not all of them are indigenous (in the sense of origin), but have been cultivated in the region for more than 200-300 years. Hence, all these are considered indigenous for the purpose of this paper and their potential for expanding the food basket and commercialization in Asia-Pacific region is discussed. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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