Prof. K.V.Peter
Prof. K.V.Peter: Former VC and Presently Professor of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur 680 656, Kerala

There is Global concern on shrinking food base depending on a meager three crops-wheat, rice and maize-.New Crops are to be encouraged to fit into the changing food habits, life styles and above all climate change. Underutilized Horticultural Crops are getting attention world around. The High Impact Journal HortScience reviewed vol. II Underutilized and Underexploited Horticultural Crops and reported its global value. The series projects the nutritional values, ecological compatibility, fitness to ecological niches and above all optimum uses of natural resources like water, energy, space and time. Volume 4 deals with edible plant foods in Africa, African Leafy Vegetables, Amaranths, Chilies, Annual Drumstick, Clove bean, Cluster bean, Curry leaf, Ivy Gourd, Snap melon, Sweet Gourd, Teasles Gourd, Tree borne vegetables, Fruits of North Eastern Region, Dragon Fruit, Wood apple, Strobilanthes, Seed Spices, Yam bean and Trees for Energy. Twenty s in the 4th volume are compiled by the Eminent Scientists in the respective crops. The volume 4 envisages a world free from hunger and under nutrition and full of health and wellness.

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   Foreword

   The Great Philosopher Hippocrates mentioned “Your food is your medicine”. Consumption of cereals like rice, wheat and maize are going down and use of vegetables, fruits and aromatic and medicinal plants going up. The present food basket carries only a limited number of crops, though there are potential crops, presently underutilized and underexploited. Quality of food including nutritional value is getting attention. There is a nich market for nature-eco-food items from hitherto underexploited plants. The four volume series “Under- utilized and Underexploited Horticultural Crops” would unravel plants of possible value as food, vegetable, fruit, medicinal plants, aromatic plants, plantation crops, spices, tuber and root crops and energy plantations. The current volume IV elaborates edible plant foods in South Africa, African leafy vegetables, Amaranths, Annual drum stick, chillies, clove bean, cluster bean, curry leaf, Ivy gourd, snapmelon, sweet gourd, teasle gourd, dragon fruit, wood apple and a number of rare plants of considerable future potential. Underexploited spices like ajowan, anise, black caraway, carawy, celery, dill, nigella and parsley are dealt in detail for their intrinsic values and presence of antioxidants. Yam bean is a possible tuber crop of rich starch value. Under exploited trees for energy, are described for plants of renewable sources of energy. I congratulate Prof. K.V. Peter, Professor of Horticulture and Former Vice-Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University for editing the 20 chapters authored by working scientists from India, South Africa, USA, Sri Lanka and Netherlands. I also appreciate the New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi for publishing the series.

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   Edible Plant Foods in South Africa : New Light from Ancient Dwellers

   
   DAWN YOUNGBLOOD
   1 - 30 (30 Pages)
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   This chapter demonstrates that modern advances in horticultural crop development may benefit from not only knowledge derived from extant ethnographic groups but extinct peoples as well. More than 18,000 archaeological sites were identified, and a dozen rock shelter sites investigated in the Zeekoe Valley, Upper Karoo, South Africa. A baseline for understanding potential contribution of plants to the Zeekoe Valley diet is crucial for developing models of land use and mobility patterns for Late Stone Age (LSA) inhabitants, particularly since  ethnographically known foragers in Botswana, some 800 km to the North, are as much as 80 % depend on plant foods for their survival.  Since native foraging groups are long extinct in this semi-arid region with abundant natural springs, a rigorous investigation of botanical and ethnohistoric literature forms the groundwork for field investigations where direct ethnographic observation is no longer an option. First, edible species in the study area are identified in the literature. They are then sought on the ground with the aid of local informants whose families reside in the valley for generations. It appears as though some knowledge of local plants gained from native foragers 150 years ago or more have remained in Afrikaans families passed down from landowning parent to child. On the ground, collection and middle range experimentation were followed by basic nutritional analysis.  These measures were then used to compare foraging efficiency to measures from extant foraging groups.

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   African Leaf Vegetables

   
   WS Jansen Van Rensburg and HJ Vorster
   31 - 60 (30 Pages)
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   African leaf vegetables (ALVs) are vegetable species utilized for their leaves and have become a part of the African tradition. This is a dynamic concept that is changing with the African culture and the term ALV embraces not only indigenous, but also indigenised species. These species are very nutritious, and contain high levels of pro-vitamin A and iron. ALVs are often more hardy than the introduced “modern” vegetables. The important role that ALVs have played in African livelihood strategies has been ignored, especially in the last half of the twentieth century. This led to ALVs being seen as a low-status crop, but this perception  started to change during the last two decades. ALVs are entering the commercial market and regaining its equal status in many African countries. ALVs are mostly used as an ingredient in relishes and soups to accompany starchy staples and sometimes meat.
   
   ALVs include species cultivated in farmer fields and home gardens, like  pumpkins and cowpeas, and species harvested from  wild and fallow lands, like eru and cleome. Certain cultivated species have only recently been domesticated after a long history of wild harvesting.  Currently, ALVs are mainly cultivated using traditional farm practices with almost no African countries having formal seed systems. After years of neglect by formal research, more and more research institutions are initiating research on ALVs. Amaranth, cleome, corchorus, cowpea, pumpkins, nightshades, african eggplant, moringa, ethiopian kale, roselle, bitterleaf, taro, slenderleaf and water spinach are listed as the most prominent ALVs in Africa.

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   Amaranths

   
   E VAN DEN HEEVER AND S. L. VENTER
   61 - 92 (32 Pages)
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   Amaranth is one of the oldest food crops in the new world, with evidence of cultivation reaching back as far as 6-700 BC. This is probably due to the ability of these plants to adapt to new environments, an extremely broad climatic adaptability and their competitive ability, which permits culture with minimum crop management, thus making it an easy crop to cultivate and domesticate.
   
   The adaptability of Amaranths could lead to cropping systems in these semi-arid regions of South Africa, so providing a very nutritious vegetable dish to the people’s diet.  Careful attention should be paid to the variety planted if it is to be successfully grown as a commercial crop so as to choose one which is palatable. The economic viability of growing amaranths should also be considered against its background as a food, particularly in areas of low rainfall, as it will still produce a yield, even under low rainfall and high temperature regimes.
   
   It is clear that this crop has the potential to address malnutrition problems, earn money for farmers, decrease environmental damage, reduce poverty in communities and increase supply of food. Our fresh water supplies are decreasing, climatic change is increasing occurrence and severity of drought and heat. There is no doubt that these underutilised crops have the sufficient untapped potential to address a number of agricultural challenges, we are facing in the world today.

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   Chillies

   
   A. ANU AND K. V. PETER
   93 - 110 (18 Pages)
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   Capsicum species are members of family Solanaceae, which include tomato, potato, tobacco and petunia.  Pepper, chile, chili, aji, paprika and capsicum are used interchangeably for plants in the genus Capsicum.  The word Capsicum is reserved for taxonomic discussion (Bosland, 1992). The indigenous people of Americas evolved pepper through breeding and domestication of Capsicum species. Global diversification was facilitated by age of exploration, and subsequent establishment of land races and farmers selections.  Classical genetic and cytogenetic exploitation of Capsicum species began in 1940s and continued throughout the century (Poulos, 1994). Data on crossability and hybrid sterility are developed to reinforce or revise views on the rank of morphologically distinguishable taxa, while studies on chromosomes and isozymes aided in understanding the relationships between domesticated and wild species and the course of evolution within the domesticated species.

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   Annual Drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam)

   
   M. PRABHAKAR AND S. S. HEBBAR
   111 - 130 (20 Pages)
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   Drumstick or Moringa is one of the world’s most useful crops and  is a tropical tree with multiple uses and its main feature is that it  is hardy with tremendous capacity to withstand drought. It is indigenous to the sub-Himalayan track extending from river Chenab to Sharda. It is grown  in  arid to humid areas of the tropical region  as a  human food crop mainly as a vegetable, animal forage crop, medicine, dye and oil yielding crop and for water purification. Among the 13 species known in the family Moringaceae, Moringa oleifera Lam is particularly easy to reproduce and its growth is very fast. The species is characterized by its long, drum stick shaped pods which contain  seeds. Within this species, utilizing its fast growing nature  and bearing fruits or pods selections are made to release varieties which can be grown as annual crop.During the very first year of growth, moringa  grows up to 4 meters and  bears fruit within the same first year (Folkard and Sutherland, 1996). The plant sheds its leaves with  onset of winter, stops producing flowers and virtually fruit set will not be there.
   
   The numerous economic uses of Moringa oleifera together with its easy propagation have raised growing international interest for this tree which originated from India and  found in most tropical countries (Africa, Asia and America). Presently its cultivation on large scale  is seen in  India, Israel, Thailand, South Asian Countries, Africa and Pacific Islands. Presently in India, it occupies an  area of about 40,000 ha with  major growing areas in  Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which account for  more than 80 % of the area and production in India.

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   Clove Bean

   
   Salikutty Joseph
   131 - 134 (4 Pages)
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   Clove bean is christened so because of the resemblance of its thickened pedicel to the cloves of spice grown in isolated pockets of Kerala. This crop is neglected so long and remained unexploited though it has good potential for development. The tender and swollen pedicel of the fruit is used as a delicious vegetable vernacularly known as michi in Hindi and Bengali, garyo in Gujarati, kattuthali in Tamil, gariya in Marathi and nithya vazhuthana in Malayalam.
   
   This vegetable grows from sea level as in Western Coasts of Kerala to an altitude of 1700 m amol in the Himalayas (Kirthikar and Basu 1935). The crop grows in the Gangetic plains and in Deccan hills. It is distributed in warmer parts of South and South East Asia including Upper Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China and Japan. (Raizada and Saxena 1978).

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   Cluster Bean

   
   J. RENUGADEVI, V. VIJAYAGEETHA AND P. SRIMATHI
   135 - 154 (20 Pages)
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   Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] popularly known as guar is a drought hardy, deep-rooted, summer annual legume, grown as feed, fodder, green manure, vegetable and seed in the dry habitats of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab and to a limited extent in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In addition to its major cultivation in India, the crop is grown as a cash crop in different countries like Australia, Brazil and South Africa. The crop is exceptionally known for its higher adaptation towards poor and erratic rains, low inputs and less care. Its other multi uses are soil enrichment in cropping systems, industrial uses, social and dietary uses. These qualities have made it as the most favoured crop of marginal farmers in the arid areas. Being a leguminous annual, its primary use is soil health enrichment through atmospheric nitrogen fixation; on an average basis it is estimated to be  30 kg N ha-1. The young pods of Cluster bean are a source of delicious vegetable from late summer to middle of rainy season. The pods are sweet and can often be cooked as those of Phaseolus bean pods and are a very good source of vitamin A, calcium, iron, phosphorus and ascorbic acid with enriched nutritional value.

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   Curry Leaf

   
   Salikutty Joseph
   155 - 164 (10 Pages)
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   Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii Spreng. Syn. Bergera koenigii Koen (N.O Aurantiaceae), Chaleas koenigii Curz ex. Swingle) is a perennial leaf vegetable. It belongs to family Rutaceae. Its genus name ‘Murraya’commemorates John Adam Murray, Professor of Botany at Gottingen and editor of many of Linnaeus’s works. (Fyson, 1977).

   Origin and Distribution
   
   The crop originated in the tarai tract of Uttar Pradesh (India), in the foothills of the Himalayas. Wild forms with less pungent leaves are seen along the plains and hills of Himalayas extending from Kumaon to Sikkim, in Bengal, Assam, Deccan plateau and in Western Ghats. At present, it is cultivated in Myanmar, SriLanka, China, Australia and Pacific Islands. The curry leaf grows throughout India including the Andaman Islands up to an altitude of 1500 m amol (Wealth of India, 1962). Dastur (1970) recorded its wild form in Garhwal hills in Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Bengal, Assam, Central India, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.  Used as a flavourant and as a leaf vegetable by the early inhabitants, Dravidians, curry leaf was introduced to Southern India when the Dravidians moved southward after the arrival of Aryans from Persia. It is a backyard crop in many of the South Indian homesteads.  The spicy leaves of plants are used extensively for seasoning and flavouring dishes.

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    Ivy Gourd

    
    LI-JU LIN AND C. G. KAU
    165 - 178 (14 Pages)
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    Ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt), a climbing, herbaceous perennial plant in family Cucurbitaceae, grows well under hot-humid conditions. The genus name is derived from the Latin coccineus, which means scarlet in reference to the fruit color. Thus, it is also called scarlet-fruited gourd. Other vernacular names are: little gourd in English, courge écarlate in French, pepino cimarrón in Spanish, tam leung or phak tam leung in Thai, kundree or kundru in Hindi, pepasan in Malay, hong-gua in Chinese, and tindori in East Africa (Schippers, 2002; MMPND, 2007; USDA, 2007). The plant is often collected wild or cultivated in home gardens in tropical Asia, and its tender shoots are consumed as potherb (Wasantwisut and Viriyapanich, 2003). Bundled tender shoots of ivy gourd in the village market setting are common scenes in Southeast Asia (Boonkerd et al., 1993; Engle et al., 1998). The fruit of its sweet type cultivar is also used widely as a vegetable in India (Ramachandran and Subramaniam, 1983; Sarnaik et al., 2001; Bharathi, 2007). Ivy gourd has a potential to be a valuable vegetable in the tropics to diversify cropping system in peri-urban and urban agriculture, and to improve diet and health, especially where vitamin A deficiency is of developing concern.

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    Snapmelon

    
    DHILLON N. P. S.
    179 - 184 (6 Pages)
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    Snapmelon [Cucumis melo L. var. momordica (Roxb.) Duthie * Fuller] originated  in India. It was intensively cultivated in the 19th century in Northern India (Duthie 1905) where it is commonly called as ‘Phut’ which means to split or crack. Immature fruits are cooked or pickled and the low sugared mature fruits are eaten raw. The mature fruits crack or burst. Fruit cracking is  either longitudinal or random starting in middle of fruit (Fig.1).

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    Sweet Gourd (Momordica cochinchinesis (Lour) Spreng)

    
    JOSEPH JOHN K and L. K. BHARATHI
    185 - 192 (8 Pages)
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    Sweet gourd, (Momordica cochinchinensis) (Cucurbitaceae),  called as ‘spiny gourd’,  ‘crow cucumber’, ‘spike fruited crow cucumber’ or ‘elephant bitter gourd’ and ‘gac fruit’ is a wild vegetable, native to East and South East Asia comprising India, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, China, Indonesia and New Guinea (de Wilde and Duyfjes, 2002). It is by far the most extensively distributed and more variable species among the genus Momordica L. Even though, it is restricted to Andaman Islands and Assam in India, it occurs as a natural component of coastal scrub jungles and partially opened forests especially stream banks in South, Middle and North Andaman Islands (Joseph 2005). It is cultivated in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Assam by tribal people in their homegardens. It is grown as a vegetable in China and Japan (Jeffrey 2001). It is known by various vernacular names as ‘Adavi kakrol’ (Telugu), ‘Hathiya kankad’, ‘Gol kakra’ (Bengali) and ‘Jangli Kakrol’ (Andaman Islands).

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    Teasle Gourd (Momordica subangulata Blume ssp. renigera (G. Don) de Wide)

    
    JOSEPH JOHN K
    193 - 200 (8 Pages)
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    Teasle gourd, Momordica subangulata Blume ssp. renigera (G. Don) de Wilde (Cucurbitaceae), is a semidomesticate or a wild vegetable native to Assam-Myanmar region. As in  other dioecious Momordica species, it’s taxonomy and nomenclature were confused with M. dioica Roxb. (spine gourd=kartoli) and M. cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng. (sweet gourd=kakrol) (Joseph et al.2006). It is known by many vernacular names like kaksa (Bihar), lamkarote (Manipur), meeta chotela (Sikkim), kakrol (Bengal, Tripura), kakrul (Mizoram), bhat karela (Assam) and gantola (Bangalore). Allied to M. dioica, M. cochinchinensis and M. sahyadrica Joseph and Antony, in general morphology it is distinct from these species in its branched tuberous roots, cordate dentate unlobed leaves, prominently networked leaf veins, large creamy flowers with bull’s eye mark in three inner petals (also in M. cochinchinensis), reniform male bracts, very long female flower stalks and medium sized softly echinate dome shaped fruits with remnant ridges (Fig.1). A few workers reported it as tetraploid form of M. dioica (Misra and Sahoo 1983). It is referred to as M. cochinchinensis by Patnaik and Patnaik (1976), Shadeque and Baruah (1984) and Ram et al. (2002) and M. dioica by Maurya (1976) and Ali et al. (1991), whereas a recent revision of the genus in Malaysia and SE Asia by De Wilde and Duyfjes (2002) proved its botanical identity as Momordica subangulata ssp. renigera  (G. Don) de Wilde.

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    Tree-Borne Vegetables

    
    MAURYA I. B. AND JITENDRA SINGH
    201 - 222 (22 Pages)
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    Tree-borne vegetables spring out from woody perennial plants. There are too many trees in nature across the globe which offer edible fruits, a few of them are exploited for vegetable purpose. Of course, in popular parlance, vegetable gives the connotation of the product of herbaceous crop, but there are vegetables which are the product of woody perennials. In the present agri-horti-scenario, where diversity in product range is the most sought after aspect, attempts are underway to popularize culture of such vegetables which have not yet found commercial momentum at the grower’s field. Tree-borne vegetables are one such group which needs proper popularization to really help to percolate their farming. These vegetables being vested with woody nature, tap root system, bark covering and stress tolerance mechanism are worth exploitation under diverse farming systems prevalent across the country. Further many tree-borne vegetables are rich in nutrients also and as such add to their plus identity.

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    Underutilized Fruits of North Eastern Region, India

    
    PATEL R. K., AKATH SINGH, D. S. YADAV AND L. C. DES
    223 - 238 (16 Pages)
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    Wild fruits were an important source of food for mankind before dawn of civilization and domestication of present day fruits. Cavemen in forests also depended on these fruits and passed on valuable information on utility and choice of wild species of fruits from generation to generation.Thus the present day horticulture came into existence. Also, wild varieties of plants, yielding edible fruits growing throughout the Himalayas, contributed directly to cultural heritage of India. Even today, these fruits are eaten in plenty by local people, as they are commonly available in abundance in their habitats. Fruit crops, which are neither grown commercially on large scale nor traded widely are called underutilized fruit crops. These are cultivated, traded and consumed locally. Underutilized fruit crops have many advantages in terms of easiness to grow, hardy in nature and  production of good crop even under adverse conditions. Most of them are rich sources of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Underutilized fruit crops play crucial role in successful running of processing industry round the year in the region. A large proportion of rural population depends on locally available fruits to meet their dietary requirements

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    Dragon Fruit Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton and Rose

    
    Pushpakumara D.K.N.G. and H.P.M. Gunasena
    239 - 266 (28 Pages)
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    Dragon fruit  (Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton and Rose) is a climbing vine cactus species which has received worldwide recognition, first, as an ornamental plant and then as a fruit crop. Its fruit is the most beautiful in the family Cactaceae with a bright red skin studded with green scales and white or red flesh with tiny black seeds.  The flower is so beautiful that it is nicknamed as Noble Woman or Queen of the Night.  The juicy flesh of the fruit is delicious in taste. It is well established as a new crop in Australia, China, Israel, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Taiwan and Vietnam. In Vietnam, it has become a major export crop, which fetches higher prices than even Durian, the King of Fruits in south East Asia.  The main constraint is that the establishment cost is high due to use of trellises for climbing. The cost of establishment will depend on the type of trellises used, and experience in Sri Lanka shows that relatively cheap trellising is sufficient. The other agronomic practices are easy and less expensive; maintenance cost is low and aftercare is minimal due to fewer pest and disease attacks. Further, the biggest advantage of this crop is that once planted, it grows for about 20 years, and one hectare could accommodate about 800 Dragon fruit plants.

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    Wood Apple

    
    SHUKLA S. K. AND A. K. SINGH
    267 - 288 (22 Pages)
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    Wood apple (Feronia limonia (L) Swingle) is a thorny tree commonly found in dry deciduous forests. In India, it is known by several common names like elephant apple, curd apple, monkey fruit, kavat, curd fruit and kath bel. In Malaysia, it is known as gelinggai or belinggai; in Thailand, ma-khwit; in Cambodia, kramsang; in Laos, ma-fit; in French, pommed’ elephant, pomme de bois or citron des mois. The tree is very hardy and has tolerance to drought and salinity. Its cultivation as a fruit tree is rare, but fruits of naturally occurring trees in community lands, forests and on roadsides are  used for chutney and pickle making. Fruits being rich in pectin, minerals and vitamins offer unique opportunity to utilize them extensively for processing. Extensive root system and synchronization of its reproductive phase with high moisture availability make it a suitable crop for arid zones.

    Origin and Distribution
    The wood-apple is native and common in  wild in dry plains of India and SriLanka and cultivated along roads and edges of fields and occasionally in orchards. It is also grown throughout Southeast Asia, in Northern Malaysia and on Penang Island. In India, the fruit was traditionally a “poor man’s food” until processing techniques were developed in the mid-1950’s. It is one of the very hardy trees  growing all over the plains of India, especially in the semi-arid and arid regions. It is more common in Deccan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Iit also occurs in the Western Himalayas upto an elevation of about 500 m amol.

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    Strobilanthes : Promising Indigenous Ornamental Plants from Western Ghats India

    
    Anitha. K, Shijo Joseph and S. Narendra Prasad
    289 - 296 (8 Pages)
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    Strobilanthes (of Acanthaceae) is a morphologically diverse and species rich genus extensively distributed in South and Southeast Asia (Carine,1997 and Moylan et al 2004). Approximately 74 species are found along the Western Ghats of Southern India - Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot (Carine, 1997). The mass flowering of Strobilanthes with blue coloured flower makes them promising plants for gardens.  The genus is subjected to several systematic revisions recently (Bennett and Scotland 2003, Carine et al. 2000, 2004 Carine and Scotland 1998, 2000, 2002 and Venu 2007). The most distinguishing character of the genera (Strobilanthes) is its monocarpic nature, i.e., flowers after a long period of vegetative growth ranging 1-15 years and in a few cases flowers after 35 years. Bremekamp (1944) used the term ‘plietesials’ for such monocarpic plants that take several years to reach maturity before flowering.

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    Underexploited Seed Spices Ajowan, Anise, Black Caraway, Caraway Celery, Dill, Nigella & Parsley

    
    Suresh K. Malhotra
    297 - 342 (46 Pages)
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    The seed spices are aromatic vegetable products mostly used in whole or ground form for imparting flavour, aroma and pungency to food. The seed spices possess industrial importance and are used in cosmetics, perfumery and pharmaceutical preparations.  The major seed spices , coriander, cumin, fennel and fenugreek are cultivated in larger areas in arid to semi-arid regions covering major parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Besides these four crops, a minor group of under exploited seed spices crops has tremendous scope for their cultivation in arid to semi-arid parts of the country. Such under exploited seed spice crops are ajowan, dill, celery, anise, caraway, black caraway, parsley and nigella.
    
    India produces currently 8.4 lakh t. of seed spices from an area of  5.7 lakh ha. Owing to large domestic demand and stringent export regulations only 10% of total production is exported and earns a foreign exchange of Rs. 225 crores annually. The global demand of seed spices is 1,50000 t. and India  exports only 60750 t. annually. It is suggested that if wide range of seed spice crops are grown across the country, present level of production and export can be doubled. Therefore in addition to major group of seed spices, the minor seed spices, so called under exploited crops should be given emphasis and promoted amongst farmers for earning more profit through  export.

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    Yam Bean

    
    MUKHOPADHYAY S. K., RAJIB NATH AND H. SEN
    343 - 378 (36 Pages)
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    Yam bean (Pachyrhizus erosus) is a leguminous tuber crop of immense production potential. The crop has high rate of dry matter production / day / unit area and is known for its high degree of photosynthetic efficiency. Besides contributing significantly as a source of food to  weaker sections, the crop has immense industrial value for extraction of starch and production of animal feed. Yam bean is well suited to small and marginal holdings and has the capacity to withstand adverse biotic and abiotic stresses. It comes up well in comparatively marginal lands and does not require intensive care. It has  great potential in developing and underdeveloped countries where most of the farmers are small and marginal . This crop is very important in the context of food and nutrition security and assumes great significance due to ever-increasing human population. Still the importance of this crop is underestimated and unlike most staples, the crop fails to attract attention of  agricultural researchers throughout the tropical and subtropical countries of the world. The crop is still largely under-exploited and is subjected to little selection pressure. A large degree of variability exists for several agronomic characteristics in the existing germplasm. With a little attention from the scientists ,this crop could usefully be exploited by genetic improvement and development of crop ideotypes which would meet a wide range of needs in developing countries.

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    Underutilized Trees for Energy

    
    FELIX FRANCIS, K. SUDHAKARA AND K. V. PETER
    379 - 398 (20 Pages)
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    Energy remains the mainstay of civilized world. The priorities may lay in cost economics, environment friendliness, import substitution, or self-sufficiency as strategic objectives.  By the year 2050, worldwide energy demand is projected to be at least twice today’s level. Energy and environment are sectors that are of concern for policy makers and scientists.  Indian scenario is unique and different from other developed or developing countries. It has vast areas that lay waste and are not being utilized for cultivation since these are unfertile, dry, sodic, saline, or alkaline. Majority of its population lives in villages.
     
    Energy supply must be sustainable and diverse and energy needs to be used more efficiently. Sustainable energy supply, both in the short- and the long-term, is needed for promoting both economic development and people’s quality of life, as well as protecting the environment. We also need a greater diversification of energy resources to ensure against risk of price rises and supply disruptions.

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    Index

    2,4-d  324, 363

    A
    A- terpinene  324
    A. Callosa  226
    A. Caudatus  66
    A. Champeden  209
    A. Cocciniae  170
    A. Cruentus 64, 65, 66, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84,  86
    A. Graecizans  45
    A. Graveolens  318
    A. Hybridus  39, 45, 66, 78, 80, 81
    A. Hypochondriacus  80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86
    A. Mucromatus  12
    A. Polyphena  209
    A. Spinosus  66
    A. Thunbergii  66
    A. Tricolour  64, 80, 89, 90
    Abietaceae  390
    Acacia decurrens  382
    Acacia mearnsii  382
    Acacia mollissima  382