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Neglected and under-utilised crops are domesticated plant species used for food, medicine, trading, or cultural practices significant within their local communities but not widely commodified or studied as part of mainstream agriculture.[1][2] Such crops may be in declining production.[3] They are considered under-utilised in scientific inquiry for their perceived potential to contribute to knowledge regarding nutrition, food security, genetic resistance, or sustainability.[4] Other terms to describe such crops include minor, orphan, underused, local, traditional, alternative, minor, niche, or underdeveloped.[5]
Three crops, maize, wheat, and rice, account for approximately 50% of the world's consumption of calories and protein,[6] and about 95% of the world's food needs are provided by just 30 species of plants.[7] Despite this, the list of crop species compiled as edible extends to around 12,650.[8] Among these are neglected and under-utilised plants that in many cases have been used for food and other uses on a larger scale historically.
Reduction in use is partially due to supply or consumption constraints, poor shelf life, unrecognised nutritional value, poor consumer awareness, and perception as famine food ("poor people's food"), which is partially due to the modernisation of agricultural practices. Some crops experienced genetic erosion of their gene pool due to this neglect, which resulted in them becoming regarded as lost crops.[9]
As the demand for plant and crop attributes changes (reappraisal or discovery of nutritional traits, culinary value, adaptation to climate change, etc.), some previously neglected crops, such as oil palm, soybean, and kiwifruit, have overcome such constraints via more large-scale production and use, becoming regarded as globally significant crops.[10][11] Alongside their commercial potential, many underused crops such as sorghum provide essential environmental services as they have adapted to marginal soil and climate conditions.[12]
Under-utilised crops continue to play a vital role in the subsistence and economy of people in low and middle-income countries, particularly in the agro-biodiversity rich tropics. For example, chirimoya and bambara crops produced in Colombia and Mozambique respectively, aid the local population in food security, allowing them physical and economic access to sufficient food for meeting their dietary needs, even during a famine.[13][14]
There is no consensus on what defines an under-utilised crop, but they often display the following attributes:
Neglected crops are primarily grown by traditional farmers. These species may be widely distributed beyond their centers of origin but tend to occupy unique niches in the local production and consumption systems. They are critical for the subsistence of local communities yet remain poorly documented and neglected by mainstream research and development activities.[16] Many staple crops, especially in the developing world, are poorly studied by researchers. For example, the Green Revolution saw massive changes in agricultural productivity in Asia, but African crops saw little benefit.[17]
Determination of the underutilized status of a crop varies among researchers. Different criteria and approaches are used to define this particular group of crops. Neglect refers to the lack of attention a crop may receive through research and development and can be evaluated by how well national and international policy or legal frameworks and research and development programs can support the conservation and sustainable use of a crop. Under-utilisation is particular to the geography and potential for a crop to contribute to better diets and production systems. In cases where exotic or diversified species are under-utilised in a particular region, these may not necessarily be under-utilised in other parts of the world.[9] Below is a non-exhaustive list of neglected and under-utilised species.
It is important to recognise the potential negative impact on communities that historically use so-called under-utilised crops. As these crops come under international focus, Quinoa in South America as an example saw its price surge by 600%, pushing the coveted grain outside the reach of traditional use communities. [18]
