TITLE:
Underutilized Edible Plants of Nagaland: A Survey and Documentation from Kohima, Phek and Tuensang District of Nagaland, India
AUTHORS:
Chitta Ranjan Deb, Neilazonuo Khruomo, Asosii Paul
KEYWORDS:
Bioresources, Conservation, Food Security, Nagaland, Underutilized Plants
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.10 No.1,
January
21,
2019
ABSTRACT: With the rapid rise in the population, there is
higher demand of the food supply to fed millions of people. As such dependence
on the few major staple crops to meet the needs of the people has led to
increases in starvation and poverty. Underutilized edible plants offer a
cheaper and affordable option in providing more crop diversification to tackle
these problems and provide food security to the poor to the world in general
and to the developing countries in particular. In the present investigation, a
total of 142 underutilized edible plants were collected, identified and
documented from three districts (Kohima, Phek and Tuensang) of Nagaland, India.
The collected plant consists of 126 species of plants and 16 wild edible
mushrooms or macro fungus species. The collected plants were categorized
according to types of plant and their parts used collected during the period
2012-2016 with their scientific name, family, common name, vernacular name and
accession number. The study discusses the need to promote these plants for
providing food security and income generation through sustainable collection,
cultivation and marketing and to workout proper conservation strategies to
prevent depletion and lost of the natural habitat caused by anthropogenic
activities. The study also encourages more survey and researches in the rest of
the districts of the state and to study the phytochemical constituents to
harness the nutraceutical properties of these plants.