From the report’s executive summary:

This report summarises the work in FOSRIN (Food Security through Ricebean Research in India and Nepal), funded by the 6th Framework Programme (FP6) of the European Commission from April 2006 to March 2010.

FOSRIN was a consortium of eight partners, universities, NGOs and government research organisations in Europe and South Asia, working to popularise the underutilised grain legume crop ricebean (Vigna umbellata) and promote its cultivation over a wider area of the environments to which it is suited than is currently the case. The work involved research on the supply chain and marketing of the crop, the diversity and adaptation of germplasm, farmers‟ preferred traits and indigenous knowledge of the crop, and its health and nutritional aspects. The work is showcased on the website of The Ricebean Network (www.ricebean.org).

Click here to read FOSRIN’s final Report

Tune in to BBC’s Food Programme on Sunday 13 September at 12:32 BST (GMT+1) to listen to Sheila Dillon who looks at work to promote indigenous vegetables in Africa, an attempt to improve nutrition, maintain genetic diversity and respond to concerns about climate change. Are there lessons for developed nations as well?

Tune into BBC Radio 4 or access through the internet. For more details visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnx3

In periurban Hyderabad, India, leafy vegetables are increasingly grown along the Musi River and sold in urban markets. This agricultural biodiversity can significantly help urban and periurban farmers become more resilient to the impacts of such changes. Read this article (pdf 5.5 MB) in the latest issue of Urban Agriculture Magazine.

The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources / University of Hawai’i at Manoa provides a comprehensive online library of its publications. We specially would like to point our users to the sections

• Fruits and Nuts
• Home Garden Vegetable
• New Plants of Hawaii
  and
• Sustainable Agriculture

Indigenous vegetables have long been regarded as ‘minor crops’ and excluded from research attention, in favour of major food and cash crops. This overview of the most common indigenous vegetables in Africa argues that channeling some ‘R and D’ in their direction could have a significant impact on both food security and health among the continent’s poorest. Indigenous vegetables tend to have short production cycles, require intensive labour but few purchased inputs, and produce high yields with strong nutritional value. They can therefore support rural, peri-urban and urban populations both in terms of subsistence and income-generation, without requiring large capital investments. In some areas they are also becoming popular with commercial growers.

An overview is given of 126 African vegetables, but only the 25 most commonly cultivated crops are covered in detail. The genera are: Amaranthus, Celosia, Cleome, Bidens, Crassocephalum, Solanecio, Struchium, Launea, Vernonia, Brassica, Eruca, Lepidium, Rorippa, Citrullus, Coccinia, Cucumeropsis, Cucumis, Kedrostis, Lagenaria, Momordica, Telfairia, Gnetum, Plectranthus, Solenostemon, Crotalaria, Cyamopsis, Lablab, Psophocarpus, Senna, Sphenostylis, Tylosema, Abelmoschus, Hibiscus, Sesamum, Ceratotheca, Portulaca, Talinum, Solanum, Corchorus, Triumfetta, Asystasia, Cyphia, and Ensete. Subjects include: agronomy, varieties, pests and diseases, related species, botanical aspects, pollination and breeding, distribution, food and nutrition, other uses, marketing and post-harvest treatments. Other subjects are: the socio-economic importance of indigenous vegetables; crop development and promotion; and, main constraints facing farmers wishing to grow African vegetables.

The book can be obtained by writing to NRI Catalogue Services, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8DE, UK and quoting CRG7. The CD can be obtained from NR International, Park House, Bradford Lane, Aylesford Kent ME20 6SN, UK.

This summary was provided by Research for Development