Minor millets in South Asia: learnings from IFAD-NUS project in India ...

promoting negleCted and underutilized speiCes in nepal 147
Promoting Neglected and Underutilized Species in Nepal:
A Case of Finger Millet
B. Bhandari, A. Subedi, S. Gyawali, K.P. Baral, K.R. Chowin, P. Shrestha
and B. Sthapit
Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD), P.O. Box. 324,
Pokhara, Nepal
1. Introduction
Underutilized crops are usually considered important in relation to their end use
and are usually grouped into cereals, beverage, oil, spices, fruit and vegetable
categories (Williams and Haq, 2002). In fact, such uses are variable from place
to place. Underutilized crops are found in numerous agricultural ecosystems and
often adapted to marginal farming systems. These minor crops have received little
attention, yet almost all of these neglected species are essential to local people as
food and a source of income. Research and development in general are lacking in
underutilized crops. In recent decades, a number of scientific and economic interests
have emerged with focus on lesser known cultivated species.
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) occupies almost 9% of the total cultivated area
in Nepal and about 75% of this lies in mid-hills. Although this is the fourth most
important food crop in terms of area coverage in Nepal (Upreti and Bimb, 2002),
finger millet is one of the neglected crops of this country. The crop is important
in subsistence based farming systems due to its several important features (Box 1).
Farmers grow finger millet in marginal land with low external inputs. Hence, finger
millet is a part of daily diets of poorer people living in marginal areas. Among cereals,
finger millet is rich in iron, calcium, and zinc, but in spite of these advantageous
nutritional properties,
Box 1. Key features of neglected and
underutilized crop: finger millet
Important source of food for poor people in Nepal
Suitable for growing on marginal (low fertile) and
dry soils (rainfed)
Low infestation of crop pests and diseases
Associated with poor or marginal farming households
with larger area planted
Utilized largely in the form of traditional foods
Found in wild forms and if domesticated, package
of scientific cultivation practices not properly
developed
Very low profile in national research and development
priority
it is considered a low
status food by people
of Nepal. Recent trends
indicate that production
and consumption of finger
millet is further decreasing
in the country. This chapter
reports the results of
efforts made by LI-BIRD to
increase productivity and
consumption of finger
millet in Nepal through
the project, “Enhancing
the Contribution of
Nutritious but Neglected