Underutilized Edible Plants of Nagaland: A Survey and Documentation from Kohima, Phek and Tuensang District of Nagaland, India

Abstract

With the rapid rise in the population, there is higher demand of the food supply to fed millions of people. As such dependence on the few major staple crops to meet the needs of the people has led to increases in starvation and poverty. Underutilized edible plants offer a cheaper and affordable option in providing more crop diversification to tackle these problems and provide food security to the poor to the world in general and to the developing countries in particular. In the present investigation, a total of 142 underutilized edible plants were collected, identified and documented from three districts (Kohima, Phek and Tuensang) of Nagaland, India. The collected plant consists of 126 species of plants and 16 wild edible mushrooms or macro fungus species. The collected plants were categorized according to types of plant and their parts used collected during the period 2012-2016 with their scientific name, family, common name, vernacular name and accession number. The study discusses the need to promote these plants for providing food security and income generation through sustainable collection, cultivation and marketing and to workout proper conservation strategies to prevent depletion and lost of the natural habitat caused by anthropogenic activities. The study also encourages more survey and researches in the rest of the districts of the state and to study the phytochemical constituents to harness the nutraceutical properties of these plants.