Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia): a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challenges
Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) is an orphan legume of Vigna genus, exhibiting wide adaptability and has the potential to grow well in arid and semi-arid areas, predominantly across different eco-geographical regions of Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent. The inherent adaptive attributes of t...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1179547/full |
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| author | Kanishka R. C. Gayacharan Basavaraja T. Rahul Chandora Jai Chand Rana |
| author_facet | Kanishka R. C. Gayacharan Basavaraja T. Rahul Chandora Jai Chand Rana |
| author_sort | Kanishka R. C. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) is an orphan legume of Vigna genus, exhibiting wide adaptability and has the potential to grow well in arid and semi-arid areas, predominantly across different eco-geographical regions of Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent. The inherent adaptive attributes of this crop have made it more tolerant towards a diverse array of abiotic and biotic stresses that commonly restrain yield among other Vigna species. Additionally, the legume is recognized for its superior nutritional quality owing to its high protein content as well as amino acid, mineral and vitamin profile and is utilized as both food and fodder. Moth bean can play a vital role in sustaining food grain production, enhancing nutritional security as well as provide a source of income to resource-poor farmers amid rise in global temperatures and frequent drought occurrences, particularly in rain-fed cropping systems which accounts for about 80% of the world’s cultivated land. However, this minor legume has remained underutilized due to over-exploitation of major staple crops. With the exception of a few studies involving conventional breeding techniques, crop improvement in moth bean for traits such as late maturity, indeterminate growth habit, shattering and anti-nutritional factors has not garnered a lot of attention. Recent advances in sequencing technologies, modern breeding approaches and precision phenotyping tools, in combination with the available crop gene pool diversity in gene banks, can accelerate crop improvement in moth bean and lead to the development of improved cultivars. Considering the recent surge in awareness about the development of climate-smart crops for sustainable agricultural future, collective effort towards effective utilization of this hardy, neglected legume is the need of the hour. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:10:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f7fa12333fae4e009875db058afd5319 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:10:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-f7fa12333fae4e009875db058afd53192023-06-06T04:48:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2023-06-011410.3389/fpls.2023.11795471179547Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia): a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challengesKanishka R. C.0 Gayacharan1Basavaraja T.2Rahul Chandora3Jai Chand Rana4Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Regional Station, Shimla, IndiaIndian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, IndiaIndian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur, IndiaIndian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Regional Station, Shimla, IndiaAlliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), India Office, National Agricultural Science Complex, New Delhi, IndiaMoth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) is an orphan legume of Vigna genus, exhibiting wide adaptability and has the potential to grow well in arid and semi-arid areas, predominantly across different eco-geographical regions of Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent. The inherent adaptive attributes of this crop have made it more tolerant towards a diverse array of abiotic and biotic stresses that commonly restrain yield among other Vigna species. Additionally, the legume is recognized for its superior nutritional quality owing to its high protein content as well as amino acid, mineral and vitamin profile and is utilized as both food and fodder. Moth bean can play a vital role in sustaining food grain production, enhancing nutritional security as well as provide a source of income to resource-poor farmers amid rise in global temperatures and frequent drought occurrences, particularly in rain-fed cropping systems which accounts for about 80% of the world’s cultivated land. However, this minor legume has remained underutilized due to over-exploitation of major staple crops. With the exception of a few studies involving conventional breeding techniques, crop improvement in moth bean for traits such as late maturity, indeterminate growth habit, shattering and anti-nutritional factors has not garnered a lot of attention. Recent advances in sequencing technologies, modern breeding approaches and precision phenotyping tools, in combination with the available crop gene pool diversity in gene banks, can accelerate crop improvement in moth bean and lead to the development of improved cultivars. Considering the recent surge in awareness about the development of climate-smart crops for sustainable agricultural future, collective effort towards effective utilization of this hardy, neglected legume is the need of the hour.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1179547/fullmoth beangenetic diversitycrop improvementstress toleranceclimate changesustainable agriculture |
| spellingShingle | Kanishka R. C. Gayacharan Basavaraja T. Rahul Chandora Jai Chand Rana Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia): a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challenges Frontiers in Plant Science moth bean genetic diversity crop improvement stress tolerance climate change sustainable agriculture |
| title | Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia): a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challenges |
| title_full | Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia): a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challenges |
| title_fullStr | Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia): a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challenges |
| title_full_unstemmed | Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia): a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challenges |
| title_short | Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia): a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challenges |
| title_sort | moth bean vigna aconitifolia a minor legume with major potential to address global agricultural challenges |
| topic | moth bean genetic diversity crop improvement stress tolerance climate change sustainable agriculture |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1179547/full |
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