Vegetable Genetic Resources to Mitigate Nutritional Insecurity in India

Abstract

Vegetable crops are key sources of essential micronutrients required for good health. They add fiber, flavor, taste, and nutritional quality to human diets. Increasing production and consumption of vegetables constitutes a direct and affordable way to deliver better health and overcome malnutrition. Vegetable production has the potential to generate more income and employment than any other segment of the agricultural economy. Vegetables can be grown on small areas of land, close to the consumers in urban and peri-urban settings, and they do not necessarily need advanced technologies to grow them. To realize those benefits, governments and donors need to give more weight and support to the ex situ, on-farm, and in situ conservation of genetic resources including farmers’ varieties, landraces, and wild related species of global, as well as traditional, vegetables.