About this Research Topic

Background

Food and nutritional insecurity are two major threats to mankind in the 21st century. Climate change and increasing water scarcity are major constraints to agriculture in many parts of the world. Therefore, approaches to produce more food on the same or less land are essential. At the global level, out of 300,000 – 500,000 higher plant species, around 30,000 are edible and approximately 7,000 have been either cultivated or collected for human consumption. There are many neglected plant species that are rich in nutrients and are reported to have numerous health benefits, which are termed as underutilised crops. These underutilised crops are the best alternatives to cater for the growing threat on food and nutritional security and can be used to diversify conventional subsistence farming systems and mitigate malnutrition. They can withstand adverse climatic conditions and contribute to agro-ecological and food system resilience and adaptation to climate change. Underutilised crops have proven potential to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger) and 13 (climate action). However, compared to the other food crops, lesser attention has been given for underutilised crop research.

Local farmers either plant underutilised crops or collect them from their natural habitats. Adoption by other farming communities and industry has been hindered for a number of reasons, the most prominent of which is the lack of support from the research community and industry. The global food security projections draw an uncertain future, therefore, the agricultural policymakers should start devising evidence-based pathways that ensure maximum production efficiency based on the crops that are underutilised locally and globally. With the growing concern on climate resilience, underutilised crops have received attention from the research community that are interested in modelling, suitability assessment, yield forecasting and data collection. Not just as sources of food and feed, the focus on other potential uses that include bioactive compounds, pharmaceutical properties, as construction materials and energy sources should be received. This requires a collection and publication of information on recent advances related to underutilised crops, diversified food system, successful use-cases and policy and economic pathways for wider adoption of these crops.

This collection is open for submission to original research, review articles, commentaries and opinion papers on different aspects of underutilised crops. All the papers in this collection should consider how underutilised crops can contribute to all three pillars of climate smart food systems through adaption, mitigation and productivity and should draw out synergies and trade-offs between these pillars. We welcome submissions on the following themes related to underutilised crops:
• Assessing the impact of climate change and climate change adaptation of underutilised crops

• Crop modelling (model development, parameterisation and applications) at the local, regional or global level

• Growth, development and yield prediction of underutilised crops using advanced technologies

• Land suitability assessment for underutilised crops

• Value chain and economics prediction for underutilised crops

• Use of new technology (GIS, remote sensing, UAV) in underutilised crop research

• Supportive data for agricultural decision making on underutilised crops (databases/ methods)

• Potentials of underutilized crops to build food system resilience

• The contribution of underutilized crops to strengthen household food security

• The role of underutilized crops in climate-smart agricultural systems

Keywords: Agro-ecological resilience, agrobiodiversity, agro-environmental modelling, climate change, Climate smart agriculture, crop modelling, food security, food systems, future crop, land suitability, sustainable value chains, underutilized crops, agricultural

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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