Potential Prospective of Underutilized Plant Species

Underutilized plant species are sort of plants in which their potentiality is much more in lieu of food security and medicine in the present context. An important constraint on the promotion and exploration of many underutilized plant species for increasing food security and health is the lack of information on plant properties. A resulting threat is the the potential contributions of these underutilized plant species to food security and health are difficult to estimate. On the other hand, there is a wide range of underutilized plant species with well known nutritional and medicinal properties, which have the potential for further promotion as they are locally known culturally accepted and often well established component of farming systems and diet. This category of underutilized plant species may have other constraints such as low productivity poor seed setting or post harvest problems.

The aim of promoting underutilized plant species for income generation is to increase the direct economic benefits to poor people and vulnerable groups of rural mass by providing additional cash income. Underutilized plant species with a potential for income generation can be divided into those with identified or not identified potential and also into those with a market potential at local, National or Global level which not only explore the potentiality of the species but also help in conservation of biodiversity.

The book Potential Prospective of Underutilized Plant Species carries 16 chapters and covers most of the underutilized and under exploited plants, their botany, on farm agro-technology developed by our distinguished scientist, potential use and the agro climate zone where the species predominately found and their traditional use by rural mass.

This book is unique in providing practical knowledge, agro-technology and ideas in employing the underutilized plant species to Indian agriculture as a safe guard for preventing hunger and income generation to poor and marginal farmers and for sharing ideas with researchers and policy makers by balancing sustainability and productivity for need of the our.