Introduction

This volume discusses the nutraceutical importance, production technologies, management and cultivation practices of underutilized vegetables, which can be described as those vegetable crops which are neither grown commercially on a large scale nor traded widely.

While much of the crops addressed in the book are cultivated, traded and consumed at the local level, there are over 60 species of minor vegetables with high growth and yield potentials that are not cultivated to a large extent for greater populations.

This work highlights the production technologies needed to grow these vegetables on a larger scale and under various adverse soil and climatic conditions, and their nutritional and medical benefits to assist with food security, health and poverty alleviation in rural areas.

Challenges and Needs

Production of underutilized vegetables is low, due to the unavailability of planting material, lack of awareness about the nutritional and medicinal importance among the farmers and inadequate information on the production techniques of these crops.

In this context, there is an urgent need to take up a program on genetic resources exploration, management, utilization, and improvement of underutilized vegetable crops to ensure food and nutritional security.

Objectives and Audience

Readers will learn about these technologies and practices, while also learning about the unique properties and benefits of these underutilized vegetables.

The book will be useful for academicians and researchers focusing on vegetable production and breeding, as well as farmers and sustainability scientists looking for underexplored sources of nutrition to benefit large rural populations.