PROBLEMÁTICA DE LAS ISLAS URBANAS

As pointed out above, underutilized sp e cies h ave g re a t p o t e n t ia l.

Investigating these species is likely to uncover new ways in which these could be used more effectively. They could provide new or additional foods, contributing to food security. They may be rich in minerals or vitamins, and contribute to human nutrition and improving human health. They might be marketed in new ways as novel food and help raise incomes for those that gather, grow and process them.

Or they may enhance environmental services by filtering and processing toxic substances, preventing soil erosion and restoring degraded soils. Many underutilized species broadly also cover several of the neglected crops grown primarily in their centre of origin by traditional farmers. Overall, many of these are considered as minor crops in terms of their production and market value though these assume high priority/importance to feed the rural poor. The major constraints in promoting R&D initiatives in this group of crops/species highlighted in the FAO State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture are:

limited germplasm availability, lack of national policy, technical information and interest and focus by researchers, agriculturists, extension workers and producers (FAO, 1996). These have been further elaborated with focus on policy framework, germplasm availability, crop acceptability, diverse

uses, production and product promotion and post-harvest handling (Williams and Haq, 2002). In a wider context, for the choice of underutilized species, the following criteria overweigh other generalizations — underutilized species/

crops are those that are : (i) of local importance in consumption and production systems; (ii) highly adapted to agro-ecological niches/marginal areas, (iii) receive scarce attention by national agricultural and biodiversity conservation policies/ programmes on research and development, (iv) largely represented by ecotypes/landraces, native local diversity (v) cultivated and utilized, relying on indigenous knowledge, and (vi) poorly represented in ex situ collections. (Padulosi et al., 2002; Williams and Haq, 2002). Von Maydell (1989) listed 12 criteria for the selection of underutilized food-producing trees and shrubs in semi-arid regions.

However, such criteria will vary with local, national and regional needs and policy for promoting specific species.

These criteria are: species should meet demand, solve problems, are accepted by people, have low risk, are free of negative properties or effects, adapted to site conditions, easy and safe to establish with less inputs, are fast growing, produce high yield, and good quality product; and such species/crops should be compatible with land use, and there should be no legal restrictions in working on these (Padulosi et al., 2002; von Maydell, 1989).

There are four major areas wherein underutilized species can make

significant contribution to sustainable agriculture, namely, food security and better nutrition, increased income for the rural poor, ecosystem stability and cultural diversity associated with local food habits and religious and social rituals (Jaenicke and Hoschle-Zeledon, 2006). Besides, there has been increased emphasis on the role of underutilized species to safeguard artistic landscape and cultural values of these species, and the concerns generated thereof in the international workshop organized by the Italian National Research Council (NRC) held in Naples (Monti, 1997). Obviously, wider avenues for use of these species await their future role vis-a-vis increased importance and impact.

Thus overall, harnessing diversity of these underutilized species has enormous potential with much diversity for exploitation, and equally enormous range of choices.

Synthesis/Information presented In the above context, this publication attempts to enumerate the diversity in underutilized food plant species of the Asia-Pacific region. It provides synthesized information on over 587 species used in diverse ways-edible grains, root/tubers, leafy and other vegetables, fruits and nuts, as spices and condiments, besides medicinal uses. Tabulated information on native indigenous, and of exotic diversity of underutilized species in Asia-Pacific region and the priority species for research and development, with data

on nutritional aspects and use has been provided. It also brings out several emerging concerns for their further promotion for human welfare, meeting the millenium development goals (MDGs) to address food security, malnutrition, poverty reduction and income generation. Thus, the publication may be useful to provide inputs on underutilized species used as food plants to national programmes and in further planning of R&D initiatives by regional and international programmes.

The wide range of species listed points out that there is still an urgent need to broaden this base of species in an effective and sustainable manner to protect and enhance the use of such locally important species that can also be deployed more widely in agricultural and environmental management. Their neglect has led to erosion of the available genepools in their areas of diversity and cultivation. Equally important is the need for capturing the associated indigenous knowledge-base held by traditional farmers on the important traits these species/

crops possess, including agronomic/

cultivation practices followed, and their diverse native uses. The R&D focus must thus lay emphasis on the use of this diversity to increase the agricultural productivity of the food insecure farmers who are the custodians of this diversity, by widening their choice of crops and their improvement. A very good example of such a collaborative effort is the MSSRF project with Bioversity International (formerly IPGRI) supported

by IFAD – namely, on “Revitalization of neglected nutritious millets towards the food and income security of the rural poor” in parts of India and Nepal – a project that has shown effective results (MSSRF, 2002; Bala Ravi et al. 2006) through participatory farmer-centred approach. Overall,

appropriate strategies are required to address the improvement of less known, underutilized species. These address food needs in a substantial way and their diversification and use adds to self sustainability particularly in the remote, marginal areas, under subsistence agriculture.

A review of literature points out that there is very scanty, largely scattered information available with national/

international programmes on the underutilized species/crop diversity occurring in the Asia-Pacific region and the range of its distribution. Much of this information was pooled in by Arora (1985) on less known food crops in the global context earlier. Considering the role of underutilized species, in the regional context, need was felt to synthesize such information for the Asia-Pacific region, using the older publication (Arora, 1985) as the basis.

This publication provides an updated account of the plant genetic resources of cultivated underutilized species of the Asia-Pacific region and information has been synthesized from various publications, particularly those listing such cultivated economic plant wealth distributed world-wide, or providing region-specific synthesis such as different floras, economic plants/cultivated plants dictionaries and other such treatises (Chapter 1). Besides providing a list of such underutilized and less known food plants, this account also provides details on the distribution and diversity

of these genetic resources, of great use for current and future needs in crop improvement and for screening useful species for direct use vis-á-vis commercial use.

Table 2 gives the distribution of less known cultivated plants in the 12 regions of diversity on a world basis (Arora, 1985). This analysis points out that of the 402 species enumerated for the four Asia-Pacific regions, maximum species diversity occurs in the Chinese-Japanese and the Indo-Chinese/ Indonesian regions, relatively less in the Hindustani/Indian region and least in the Australian Pacific region. Diversity in root and tuber crops is represented by 56 species;

of vegetables by 99 species; fruits by 130 species; seeds and nuts by 46 species and miscellaneous types by 64 species (besides edible flowers representing 7 species).

The present revised account (Table 3) lists 778 species, 376 more species for the Asia-Pacific region than that given in Table 2 (402 species). This information has been tabulated for the eight categories of underutilized