Neglected and Underutilized Crops - Towards Nutritional Security and Sustainability 9811638756, 9789811638756

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Sajad Majeed Zargar Antonio Masi Romesh Kumar Salgotra  Editors

Neglected and Underutilized Crops - Towards Nutritional Security and Sustainability

Neglected and Underutilized Crops Towards Nutritional Security and Sustainability

Sajad Majeed Zargar • Antonio Masi • Romesh Kumar Salgotra Editors

Neglected and Underutilized Crops Towards Nutritional Security and Sustainability

Editors Sajad Majeed Zargar Proteomics Laboratory, Division of Plant Biotechnology Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Antonio Masi Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and the Environment (DAFNAE) Università degli studi di Padova Padova, Italy

Romesh Kumar Salgotra School of Biotechnology Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

ISBN 978-981-16-3875-6 ISBN 978-981-16-3876-3 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3876-3

(eBook)

# The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Foreword

There are more than thousand edible plant species in the world, yet global agriculture has been dominated by only four major crops including rice, maize, wheat and potato to meet the calorific needs of human population worldwide. The predominance of only four food crops has led the agriculture sector extremely vulnerable to environmental vagaries arising due to impending climate change. Additionally, these food crops though major contributors of carbs in our diet are poor in good quality protein, minerals and other nutrients. Neglected and underutilized crops could overcome both these challenges by diversifying cropping regimes and supplementing the diet owing to their nutrient-rich seeds and plant parts. Most of the underutilized crops, e.g. buckwheat, a versatile pseudo-cereal cultivated for its seed as well as greens (food and feed), have the potential to be the golden crop in coming years owing to their nutritional superiority in terms of balanced amino acid profile, nutraceuticals such as bioactive flavonoids and the ability to thrive well under marginal and low input areas. These neglected and underutilized crops can bridge the nutritional gap to produce foods that are needed for a healthy diet. As per a recently published paper, the available information about the “neglected and underutilized crops” is very limited that is attributed to the lack of clear research goals, limited funding directed for these crops and journal apathy towards publishing work on neglected and underutilized crops. Taking into consideration these crops as a source of “nutritional powerhouse” and their ability towards attaining nutritional security

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and sustainability, the publication of this book entitled Neglected and Underutilized Crops: Towards Nutritional Security and Sustainability is the need of the hour. This book will help not only students but also professionals and crop researchers. This book consists of 11 different chapters covering the status and future prospects of neglected and underutilized crops and the genetic and genomic resources of various neglected and underutilized crops (vegetables, cereals, fruit crops). There are also chapters on the importance of underutilized crops in the scenario of sustainable agriculture and how recent technologies can be utilized for improvement of these crops. I applaud Dr. Sajad M. Zargar (SKUAST-K, India), Prof. Antonio Masi (University of Padova, Italy) and Dr. R K Salgotra (SKUAST-J, India) for the hard work in compiling this useful book with relevant topics.

Division of Plant Biotechnology, SKUAST-Kashmir Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

F. A. Nehvi

Preface

A major milestone in the history of mankind was represented by the establishment of agriculture and domestication of plants, which started several thousand years ago and resulted in the cultivation of many different species from diverse ranges of taxa and in different parts of the globe. Despite such a huge diversity of resources, cultivation of different crops provided food and fodder for centuries. Different crop plants were locally grown, which implied the cultural transition from a nomad to a residential lifestyle, the development of agricultural practices and technology, the evolution of dietary styles and culinary traditions. Until a few centuries ago, the agricultural landscape was characterized by thousands of cultivated crops around the world, which was significantly different from the current scenario where only three major crops are widely and intensely cultivated and dominate 50% of total foodstuff, and 30 species represent 95% of total raw food supply. The reason for this drastic shift may ultimately be linked to the market: as a major effect of globalization, farmers were more inclined to cultivate only a limited number of crop species that were more productive and could generate more profit at a lower cost. As a consequence, a huge number of crop species were cultivated less and less, their importance was reduced globally in terms of production and market value, and they were finally abandoned because they were not enough profitable; they became “neglected” (from the Latin: neglectus, forgotten). But forgetting also means losing something. Not only some important traditional carbohydrate and protein sources were lost but also agrobiodiversity was strongly reduced. And from a broader perspective, also some knowledge, traditions, and linkage with the cultural heritage were lost. It is generally accepted that the risks of globalization represent a major challenge for future generations. Climate change and loss of diversity call upon a shift in the human relation with the natural and agricultural environment. In this context, when referred to crops, the word “underutilized” also contains the significance of a potential for exploitation. The possibility to revert the negative trend of reduction in cultivation is documented, and several “minor” crops that were underutilized in some regions and in some periods of the history (such as kiwi, oil palm and soybean) were later reconsidered and they are now major staple foods again.

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Despite their economic potential and importance for dietary diversification, still they attract little attention from national policy and decision makers, stakeholders and consumers; they are ignored by the private sector and research suffers from the lack of adequate funding sources. In many cases, these crops are maintained by socio-cultural preferences and traditional uses and contribute to food identity of many populations. The problem with these neglected crops is that they are often low yielding when compared with major crops, but in many cases they may become economically viable. To achieve that, however, efforts are required to increase the available germplasm and to promote breeding programmes. In fact, the lack of genetic improvement for important agronomic traits represents a strong limitation to the development of these crops. Thus, this book is aimed to provide comprehensive state-of-the-art information and highlight the vast untapped potential on these neglected and underutilized crops, providing directions for future studies. It will be a valuable resource to encourage research on these crops, which is necessary to improve their traits and to assess their nutritional value; in turn, this may increase consumer awareness on the importance of nutrition and dietary diversification on health and may contribute to food security and income generation especially in marginalized areas, where these crops already contribute to an extent to sustainable agricultural production, ecosystem conservation and poverty alleviation. The impact on society is not secondary; a major reason to engage in this task, in fact, also stems from the concept that underutilized crops may play an important role in the subsistence of local communities and economy of poor countries, which were in many cases their centres of origin. The advantage of these crops is that they often occupy particular agroecological niches where they require very limited or no external inputs and have multiple uses, being not only nutritious but also having medicinal properties. This book contains 11 chapters that cover different underutilized crops with detailed information about their available genetic and genomic resources. The book also covers few chapters related to advanced technologies that can possibly be utilized for improving the yield potential or other traits of economic interest. Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India Padova, Italy Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Sajad Majeed Zargar Antonio Masi Romesh Kumar Salgotra

Acknowledgements

Sajad Majeed Zargar acknowledges National Mission on Himalayan Studies [NMHS] implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change [MoEF&CC] vide project sanction no.: GBPNI/NMHS-2017-18/SG24/622 for financial support to undertake research on underutilized crops of Northwestern Himalayas. Sajad Majeed Zargar and Antonio Masi acknowledge INPPO (International Plant Proteomics Organisation) for establishing scientific collaboration among editors. They also acknowledge the European Union for the award of Erasmus + Programme that involves staff and student mobility between University of Padova, Italy, and SKUAST-Kashmir, India. We are also grateful to Dr. Rakeeb Ahmad Mir for his valuable inputs in framing this book.

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Contents

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Neglected and Underutilized Crop Species: Are They Future Smart Crops in Fighting Poverty, Hunger and Malnutrition Under Changing Climate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Akbar Hossain, Mst. Tanjina Islam, Sagar Maitra, Debjyoti Majumder, Sourav Garai, Mousumi Mondal, Asgar Ahmed, Anirban Roy, Milan Skalicky, Marian Brestic, and Tofazzal Islam Neglected and Underutilized Crops: Present Status and Future Prospectus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amir B. Wani, Biaza, and Irtiza

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Germplasm Resources of Major Underutilized Crops . . . . . . . . . . . Surabhi Jasrotia and Romesh Kumar Salgotra

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Underutilized Vegetable Species of Indian Himalayas . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Geetika Malik, D. B. Singh, Ajaz Ahmed Malik, and Ariza Gulzar

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Nutritional and Medicinal Values of Neglected Spice Crops of Indian Himalayas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Pavan Kumar Kancharla, Aejaz Ahmad Dar, Ankit Banik, Srishti Dev, and Susheel Sharma

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Genetics and Genomics Resources of Millets: Availability, Advancements, and Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Sabreena, Muslima Nazir, Bashir Ahmad Ganai, Rakeeb Ahmad Mir, and Sajad Majeed Zargar

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Genomic Approaches for the Improvement and Conservation of Buckwheat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Shazia Mukhtar, Zaffar Bashir, Rakeeb Ahmad Mir, and Sajad Majeed Zargar

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Genetic and Genomic Resources of Chestnut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Shahid Qayoom Dar, Sumaya Mumtaz, Shabnam Ahad, Abdul Waheed Wani, and Tawseef Rehman Baba

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Genetic and Genomic Resources in Rice Bean (Vigna umbellata Thunb.): Availability, Advancements, and Applications . . . . . . . . . 191 Showkat A. Zargar, Humara Fayaz, Aijaz A. Wani, M. I. S. Saggoo, Rakeeb A. Mir, and Reyazul Rouf Mir

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Advancements in High-Throughput Omics-Technologies for Understanding the Biology of Neglected and Underutilized Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Ashish Kumar Choudhary, Riyazuddin Riyazuddin, Arun Kumar Maurya, and Ravi Gupta

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Understanding the Barriers of Underutilization and Applicability of Biotechnological Tools for Augmenting Spice Crop Production . . . . 237 Arjun Sharma, Shreekar Pant, Zishan Ahmad Wani, and Reetika Mahajan

About the Editors

Sajad Majeed Zargar, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-Kashmir) in India and visiting Professor at the University of Padova, Italy. He was previously a Visiting Professor at the Nara Institute of Science & Technology, Japan. He has worked as an Assistant Professor at SKUAST-Jammu and Baba Ghulam Shah Badshan University, Rajouri (BGSB), in India. He has also worked as scientist at Advanta India Limited, Hyderabad, India, and TERI (The Energy & Resources Institute), New Delhi, India. Dr. Zargar is recipient of the CREST overseas fellowship from DBT, India; Goho grant from Govt. of Japan; and Erasmus Fellowship from the European Union. He has received several awards for his work and research and is the recipient of a young research grant from SERB-DST, India. He is also the member and representative of INPPO (International Plant Proteomics Organisation). Dr. Zargar has established well-equipped Proteomics Laboratory at the Division of Plant Biotechnology, SKAUST-Kashmir, to undertake basic plant proteomics research. He has chaired a session in third INPPO World Congress held at the University of Padova, Italy, in 2018. His editorial activities and scientific memberships include publishing research and review articles in international journals and also as a reviewer of reputed journals. Antonio Masi, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at DAFNAE—Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Italy. Following studies in Agricultural Sciences and a PhD in Photobiology at the University of Padova, he carried out studies at the Pflanzen Physiologisches Institut in Bern, Switzerland (1990), and in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of California at Berkeley (1994–95) in the field of plant molecular biology, plant physiology and biochemistry. He was a recipient of a Fulbright grant for research in plant proteomics (2004) at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. He was visiting professor at Tribhuvan University (2010) in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal, within the European programme “Sutrofor”—Sustainable Tropical Forestry. His research activity has mainly focussed on oxidative stress and antioxidants in plants; plant abiotic stress in crops, plant sulphur metabolism and plant thiols; functions of gamma-glutamyl transferase in glutathione transport and degradation; biological effects of humic substances and biostimulants; comparative plant xiii

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proteomics and application of proteomics in agricultural and food science; and factors affecting the uptake and distribution of persistent organic pollutants in plants. Romesh Kumar Salgotra, Ph.D., is a Professor and Coordinator at the School of Biotechnology at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu (SKUAST-Jammu) in India. Dr. Salgotra received his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics in 1999 from CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Palampur, India. He was previously an Endeavour Executive Fellow of Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland, Australia. He has worked in different capacities as Junior Scientist and Senior Scientist at SKUAST-Jammu under All India Co-ordinated Rice Improvement Project, National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Hyderabad, and Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad, India. He has also worked as Agriculture Extension Officer in Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir, India. Dr. Salgotra is recipient of BOYSCAST Fellowship, Tennessee University, USA. He was awarded with prestigious Norman E. Borlaug Fellowship by the United States Agriculture Development (USDA) during 2015. He has participated in Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights Programme (GRIP) under Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Sweden, and a Follow-up programme at Pretoria, South Africa. He has received several awards for his work and research. He was the member and representative of the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA), Abu Dhabi, UAE. Dr. Salgotra was also one of the members of delegation in the Joint Committee on Science and Technology, Govt. of India, held at Belgrade, Serbia, in 2017. He has chaired a session in International Association of Science & Technology Development for Computational Bioscience held at Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He has more than 50 peerreviewed publications and has delivered numerous oral and poster presentations in national and international meetings/conferences.

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Neglected and Underutilized Crop Species: Are They Future Smart Crops in Fighting Poverty, Hunger and Malnutrition Under Changing Climate? Akbar Hossain, Mst. Tanjina Islam, Sagar Maitra, Debjyoti Majumder, Sourav Garai, Mousumi Mondal, Asgar Ahmed, Anirban Roy, Milan Skalicky, Marian Brestic, and Tofazzal Islam Abstract

Throughout history, more than 5538 crop species have been used as food for human beings, whereas only 12 crop species share the major percentage of food security globally. Among these crop species, three kinds of cereal, such as rice,

A. Hossain (*) Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute, Dinajpur, Bangladesh M. T. Islam Department of Agronomy, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh S. Maitra Department of Agronomy, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Khurda, India e-mail: [email protected] D. Majumder Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India S. Garai · M. Mondal Department of Agronomy, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV), Nadia, West Bengal, India A. Ahmed Division of Maize Breeding, Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute, Dinajpur, Bangladesh A. Roy Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV), Nadia, West Bengal, India M. Skalicky Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czechia e-mail: [email protected] # The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 S. M. Zargar et al. (eds.), Neglected and Underutilized Crops - Towards Nutritional Security and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3876-3_1

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wheat and maize share >50% of calories across the globe. Besides these, more than 1000 neglected and underutilized crop species (NUFCs) across the world have been estimated as upcoming survival crop species as these crop species are enriched in nutrients and have wider adaptability to various stresses in the modern era of climate change. Although their importance and potentiality have been still unknown to various stakeholders. Recently, these NUFCs crops have received appreciation due to their prospective role for the sustainability of crop production through alleviating agricultural risk. Researchers also recognized that the extensive utilization of underutilized minor crops to reform time-based and dimensional heterogeneity into uniform farming systems will expand the pliability to both biotic and environmental stresses. The utilization of biotechnological approaches such as genotyping by sequencing and arrays and pan-genomics tools are important tactics for evaluating the secreted prospects of the NUFCs. The application of these genomic approaches has been already proved to improve the productivity of numerous climate-resilient NUFCs including sweet potato, cassava, yam, coconut, sorghum, groundnut, cowpea, common bean, chickpea, cacao, etc. Unlocking the real potentials of the NUFCs by employing advanced breeding technologies is imperative for global food and nutritional security and also for attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This chapter highlights the prospects of NUFCs as genetic resources for fighting poverty, hunger and malnutrition for the food security of the increasing population. This chapter also discusses the important roles of NUFCs in advancing defensible agricultural improvement beyond the Green Revolution in the changing environment. Keywords

Neglected · Underutilized crop species · Food security · Biotic and abiotic stresses

1.1

Introduction

To meet the food demand of the increasing population under changing climate, the agricultural system is under stress for producing more food, feed and biofuel under limited land resources (Godfray et al. 2010). It is estimated that food production has to be enlarged by 70% to meet the food and nutritional security of nine billion people by the year 2050 (Bruinsma 2009). While 90% of the increased demand can be M. Brestic Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czechia Department of Plant Physiology, Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic e-mail: [email protected] T. Islam Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (IBGE), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh

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mitigated through enhancing cropping intensity and crop productivity; the remaining demand has to be achieved by the utilization of land, presently not used for crop production (Wu et al. 2018). Recently, more than 1000 neglected and underutilized crop species (NUFCs) across the world have been recognized as forthcoming survival crops (Ravi et al. 2010; Mayes et al. 2012), since these crop species are enriched in nutrients and also have wider adaptability against numerous stresses (IPGRI 2002; Chivenge et al. 2015). These NUFCs crops have received appreciation by researchers due to their prospective role for the sustainability of crop production through alleviating agricultural risk (Pudasaini et al. 2013; Muthamilarasan et al. 2019; Zhang and Batley 2020). Among these NUFCs, numerous underutilized vegetables and legumes are the important sources of minerals, vitamins, micronutrients and proteins, thus, appreciated crops to achieve dietary safety (Ebert 2014; Ruiz et al. 2014). Therefore, scientists across the globe have been already recognized for widespread exploitation of NUFCs into uniform farming systems, which increase the flexibility against both biotic and abiotic stresses (Mal 2007; Esfeld et al. 2013). However, it is important for unlocking the real potentials of the NUFCs by employing advanced breeding technologies that is imperative for global food and nutritional security. The use of biotechnological approaches such as genotyping by sequencing and arrays and pan-genomics tools have great potential for evaluating the secreted prospects of the NUFCs to find out the potential genetic resources for the development of highyielding and stress-tolerant crop cultivars (Jain and Gupta 2013; Tiwari and Kumar 2013). This chapter highlights the potentials of NUFCs as genetic resources for alleviating hunger and malnutrition. This chapter also discusses the potential role of NUFCs for the sustainability of agricultural improvement beyond the Green Revolution in the changing environment.

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Concept of Neglected and Underutilized Crop Species

The group of crops has been described as underexploited potential crops having nutritional and medicinal values including income sustainability. These crops are environment suitable with major food security and have sporadic existence in the food chain. Even if having a food value throughout the world in diverse crops are being neglected unnecessarily (Magbagbeola et al. 2010) categorized as underutilized (Kour et al. 2018) and neglected since long and in long-distance with the national policies. Some crops are important in case of local requirement in their food system, but minimum characterization (Thies 2000) and only centre of origin and diversity-based distribution led these crops to be categorized as neglected. Similarly uncompetitive assumption of these crops by the farmers in the competitive large scale farming made them underutilized (IPGRI 1998). FAO emphasized the importance of these crops in the subsistence of the economy, even once these crops were involved in the conventional system. Similarly Bioversity International (Previously IPGRI) mentioned their restricted niche distribution based on local need. Past involvement of the crops in marginal ecology remained as an income-generating

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source, especially in developing countries where these crops are associated with the people culturally in terms of history and religious belief. The status of nourishment throughout Sub-Saharan African countries is at a vulnerable stage consisting of 23.8% undernourishment children