Neglected and Underutilized Legume Crops: Improvement and Future Prospects

Abstract

Sustainable agricultural productivity is hampered by over-dependency on major staple crops, neglect and underutilization of others, climate change, as well as land deterioration. Challenges posed by these limiting factors are undoubtedly contributing to global food insecurity, increased rural poverty, and malnutrition in the less developed countries. Miscellaneous neglected and underutilized grain legumes (MNUGLs) are crops primarily characterized by inherent features and capabilities to withstand the effects of abiotic stress and climate change, significantly replenish the soil, as well as boost food and protein security. This chapter provides insight into the benefits of MNUGLs as food and nutritional security climate smart crops, capable of growing on marginal lands. Exploring and improving MNUGLs depend on a number of factors among which are concerted research efforts, cultivation and production, as well as utilization awareness across global populace geared toward reawakening the interest on the abandoned legumes. The emergence of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR/cas9) technology combined with marker-assisted selection (MAS) offers great opportunities to improve MNUGLs for sustainable utilization. Advances in improvement of MNUGLs using omic technologies and the prospects for their genetic modification were highlighted and discussed.

Developments and Prospects in Imperative Underexploited Vegetable Legumes Breeding: A Review

“…Econometric research awareness and policymakers’ attentions on underexploited legumes will be needed for further diversification of nutritional profiles and enhancements of human nutrition. There are currently about 150 cultivated crops, and only 30 edible species are often used for global diets, the majority of which are cereal-based, and which in developing countries rely especially on rainfed agriculture [ 19 ]. Almost all of these crops cannot withstand abiotic stresses due to global climate change [ 20 ].…”

Genetic variation and response to selection for storage root dry matter and associated traits in a population of yam bean (Pachyrhizus spp.) interspecies crosses

“…There is a growing interest in research and development of neglected legume root crops, as potential sources of food rich in protein and micronutrients to alleviate nutritional deficiencies especially in the developing world (Popoola et al 2019). Yam bean is one among many underutilised storage root forming legumes that attracts researchers in Africa (Zanklan et al 2018), where the crop was introduced to augment food and nutritional security, enhance sustainability of farming systems through biological nitrogen fixation (Grüneberg 2016;Heider et al 2011), and diversify diets of root crop dependent communities (Agaba et al 2016).…”

Climate Change and Fading Genetic Resources of <em>Parkia biglobosa</em> (Jacq.) in Nigeria Based on SSR Markers

“…The environment is facing serious threat while forest trees are reducing in cultivation, production and utilization. Legumes are generally believed to have capacity to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and greenhouse gases based on their inherent features [1]. They provide important sources of oil, fiber, and proteinrich food and feed while supplying nitrogen (N) to agro-ecosystems via their unique ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in symbiotic relationship with the soil bacteria rhizobia [2][3][4].…”

“…However, many indigenous legume species have been neglected and underutilized which could contribute significantly to food and nutritional security in Africa [1] African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.)) of the Fabaceae family is one of the important woody forest tree legumes in the semi-arid and sub-tropical farming systems of West Africa [5].…”