The sort of “uncultivated” and semi cultivated foods are large in numbers in India, and offer much to the calorific, protein and micro-nutrient needs of human health. Several of these species are either Crop Wild Relatives or economically valuable resource like NWFPs. Many families, especially the women amongst the poor vulnerable communities access this ‘diversity in the lands of commons’ by adopting several management strategies and methods. They also maintain small land holds domesticated or cultivated with diverse kinds of food plants that are not much known to the outside world. The research in this subject area should focus on the need of importance and urgency in reviving the traditional food basket of the world by carrying out integrated research on the nutritional values of the traditional foods and their potential impacts. We should try to find answers for some of the challenging questions like ‘how to create awareness to practice a healthy nutrition system? What are the practical methods to revitalize the traditional food habits of our grandparents, including the use of under-utilized crops? How to promote horticultural and agricultural remedies for nutritional maladies such as Vitamin- A, iron, iodine and zinc deficiencies for improving food and nutritional security of the growing population in developing countries?
Anil Kumar