Scientist and Deputy Director, Division of Genetics and Plant Breeding, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow) for his inspiring guidance, untiring supervision and mentorship during the early days of our research career on quinoa. In fact, it was he who taught Atul Bhargava about quinoa and inculcated in him a deep interest in the crop.
We feel privileged in expressing our deep gratitude to Dr Sudhir Shukla, Senior Scientist, Division of Genetics and Plant Breeding, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, whose valuable, rich and constant supervision, enlightened guidance, moral encouragement and guardianship have made us what we are today. Dr Shukla’s joy and enthusiasm for research has been contagious and motivational, and has propelled us to complete this task against all sorts of odds.
On a personal note, we are grateful to our brother (Akhilesh Bhargava), sister-in-law (Meenakshi Bhargava) and niece (Anushka Sharma) for their extreme patience and perseverance while this book was being written. Our family has supported us in our overburdened schedule and has been the source of our happiness and contentment.
We also thank our friends and colleagues at Amity namely, Mr Ajay Kumar Singh, Dr Prachi Srivastava and Dr Rachna Chaturvedi for their stimulating company and support at every level. Mr Ajay Kumar Singh has been with us through thick and thin and has wholeheartedly helped us in completing this endeavour. Sincere thanks are also due to Dr Kajal Srivastava, Lecturer, Amity School of Languages, Amity University Lucknow Campus for checking the manuscript thoroughly for English language and suggesting suitable improvements. The authors wish to thank Mr Santosh Kumar Pal and Ms Rita Pal (BCS In-Silico Biology, Lucknow) for working hard to improve the clarity of figures and redrawing many of them.
We gratefully acknowledge the indispensable help of Dr Sreepat Jain, Commissioning Editor (CABI, UK) and Alexandra Lainsbury, Editorial Assistant (CABI, UK) in the preparation of the manuscript and for showing the way whenever the authors needed their guidance. Both have cheerfully inspired us to make changes in text and art even very late in the production stage to bring out the best to the readers.
Atul Bhargava Shilpi Srivastava
1 Introduction
There are an estimated 7000 plant species that have been used as crop plants at some point in human history (FAO, 1998). However, today only 150 plant species are cultivated; just 12 of these provide approximately 75% of the world’s food and four produce over 50% of the world’s food (Bermejo and León, 1994). Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen (1990) state that common figures range from seven plant species providing 75% of human nutrition to 30 plant species providing 95% of human nutrition. These commonly utilized crops are intensively cultivated and require farm mechanization and increased inputs in the form of labour, high-yielding varieties, chemical fertilizers and pesticides (Bhargava et al., 2008, 2012). These accelerated inputs have resulted in intolerable pressure on fragile agroecosystems. Modern agriculture has increased homogeneity and mono-crop cultivation, resulting in loss of agrobiodiversity and frequent crop losses due to infestation by pathogens. The need of present times is a gradual shift from input-intensive to environmentally sound sustainable agriculture. Modelling of traditional farming systems to modern needs with increased organic linkages might be a good option for sustainability of the agricultural production system and maintenance of agroecological stability (Bhargava et al., 2008). This would also require a shift in focus towards increasing production by using agriculturally marginal lands for crops that are less exploited but that have immense potential for diverse uses (Partap et al., 1998).
The emphasis on a handful of major crops has narrowed the number of species on which global food security depends. The consequences of crop failures from unforeseen stresses, pests and diseases can be catastrophic (Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen, 1990). The past three decades have seen a wide range of research interests on underutilized crops and a number of significant programmes have been undertaken in both developing and developed countries to promote underutilized species for agricultural systems, as alternative crops or as sources of new products.
1.1 Underutilized Crops
Underutilized or neglected crop species are often indigenous ancient crop species that are still used at some level within the local, national or even international communities, but have the potential to contribute further to the mix of food sources (Mayes et al., 2011). These species appear to have considerable potential for use yet their potential is barely exploited, if not totally neglected, in agricultural production. Many underutilized crops were once more widely grown but are today falling into disuse for a variety of agronomic, genetic, economic and cultural reasons (Hammer et al., 2001). Farmers and consumers are using these crops less because they are not competitive with other crop species in the same agricultural environment. Orphan, abandoned, new, underutilized, neglected, lost, under-used, local, minor, traditional, forgotten, alternative, niche, promising, underdeveloped: these and other terms are often used as synonyms for underutilized species (Padulosi and Hoeschle-Zeledon, 2004). Underutilized crops are often known as ‘new crops’, not because they are ‘new’ but because they have been taken up by agricultural researchers and commercial companies for a new market. The main features of the underutilized crops are that they are:
• important in local consumption and production systems;
• highly adapted to agroecological niches and marginal areas;
• represented by ecotypes or landraces;
• cultivated and utilized drawing on indigenous knowledge;
• characterized by fragile or non-existent seed supply systems;
• hardly represented in ex situ gene banks and
• ignored by policy makers and excluded from research and development agendas (Padulosi and Hoeschle-Zeledon, 2004).
Moreover, the limited information available on many important and frequently basic aspects of neglected and underutilized crops hinders their development and sustainable conservation (Hammer et al., 2001).
Many wild and underutilized plants have potential for more widespread use and could contribute to food security, agricultural diversification and income generation (Vietmeyer, 1986; Anthony et al., 1995). Neglected and underutilized crops represent an important source of revenue for local economies and are part of the rich cultural and traditional heritage of communities around the world (IAEA, 2004). In addition to this, these crops are important sources of resistance genes for biotic and abiotic stress breeding that can also be used for the genetic improvement of crops. Compared with the major crops, they require relatively low inputs and, therefore, contribute to sustainable agricultural production. Underutilized crops have great potential to alleviate hunger directly, through increasing food production in challenging environments where major crops are severely limited, through nutritional enhancement to diets focused on staples and through providing the poor with purchasing power, helping them buy the food that is available (Mayes et al., 2011).
1.2 Chenopodium as an Underutilized Plant
Among a number of underutilized species, members of the genus Chenopodium (family Amaranthaceae) are most promising since they have the ability to thrive and flourish under stressful conditions (Bhargava et al., 2003, 2006a; Jacobsen et al., 2003a) as well as on soils with minimum agricultural inputs. Many complex adaptive modifications related to breeding system, seed dispersal and their germination account for the success of the members of this genus in colonizing disturbed habitats (Williams and Harper, 1965; Dostalek,
