agronomy Essay Domesticating the Undomesticated for Global Food and Nutritional Security: Four Steps Ajeet Singh , Pradeep Kumar Dubey, Rajan Chaurasia , Rama Kant Dubey, Krishna Kumar Pandey, Gopal Shankar Singh and Purushothaman Chirakkuzhyil Abhilash * Institute of Environment & Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +91-94156-44280 Received: 8 July 2019; Accepted: 27 August 2019; Published: 28 August 2019 Abstract: Ensuring the food and nutritional demand of the ever-growing human population is a major sustainability challenge for humanity in this Anthropocene. The cultivation of climate resilient, adaptive and underutilized wild crops along with modern crop varieties is proposed as an innovative strategy for managing future agricultural production under the changing environmental conditions. Such underutilized and neglected wild crops have been recently projected by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations as ‘future smart crops’ as they are not only hardy, and resilient to changing climatic conditions, but also rich in nutrients. They need only minimal care and input, and therefore, they can be easily grown in degraded and nutrient-poor soil also. Moreover, they can be used for improving the adaptive traits of modern crops. The contribution of such neglected, and underutilized crops and their wild relatives to global food production is estimated to be around 115–120 billion US$ per annum. Therefore, the exploitation of such lesser utilized and yet to be used wild crops is highly significant for climate resilient agriculture and thereby providing a good quality of life to one and all. Here we provide four steps, namely: (i) exploring the unexplored, (ii) refining the unrefined traits, (iii) cultivating the uncultivated, and (iv) popularizing the unpopular for the sustainable utilization of such wild crops as a resilient strategy for ensuring food and nutritional security and also urge the timely adoption of suitable frameworks for the large-scale exploitation of such wild species for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Keywords: anthropocene; climate resilient; food and nutritional security; resource conservation; underutilized crops; Sustainable Development Goals 1. Producing More with Less Resources: The Need of the Hour The sustainable utilization of our limited natural resources for maximizing the food production [1] within the planetary boundaries [2] is a serious challenge for attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs), especially the first, second and third goals namely (i) no poverty, (ii) zero hunger and (iii) good health and wellbeing. Since the indiscriminate usage of a critical resource governing agricultural production, i.e., N, has already crossed planetary boundaries [2], there is a growing concern regarding the cultivation of high-input demanding modern crop varieties under resource-poor conditions. Moreover, the quality and availability of two other inputs vital for agricultural production, i.e., water and land, are already in a thinning state [3,4]. The changing climatic condition is another impediment for food production as it negatively affects the quality and availability of the critical resources as well as the quality and quantity of the agricultural production itself [5]. Since we have to enhance the food production by 70% for meeting the demand of the growing population in 2050, the cultivation of resilient, nutritionally rich, and low-resource intensive crops are of paramount importance for human wellbeing and environmental sustainability [6]. In this context, [7,8] the domestication of undomesticated, wild and neglected crops and exploiting their natural traits to Agronomy 2019, 9, 491; doi:10.3390/agronomy9090491 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy AgronomyAgronomy 20192019, 9,, 9x, FOR 491 PEER REVIEW 2 of 18 2 of 19 [6]. In this context, [7,8] the domestication of undomesticated, wild and neglected crops and exploitingefficiently their use natural critical traits natural to ef resourcesficiently use such critical as N, na P,tural water, resources and land such o ffasers N, hugeP, water, promise and land in attaining offersfuture huge food promise security in attaining as they are future bestowed food security with highas they nutritional are bestowed value with [9 high,10] nutritional and adaptive value traits [11]. [9,10]Importantly, and adaptive they needtraits only[11]. Importantly, minimal input they and need care only so theyminimal can input be easily and cultivatedcare so they in can marginal be and easilyother cultivated nutrient-poor in marginal soil and and even other under nutrient changing-poor climatic soil and conditions even under [11 changing]. Here weclimatic propose four conditionsimportant [11]. steps, Here i.e., we (i) propose exploring four the important unexplored, steps, (ii) i.e., refining (i) exploring the unrefined the unexplored, traits, (ii) (iii) refining cultivating the theuncultivated, unrefined traits, and (iv)(iii) popularizingcultivating the the uncultivated, unpopular and for (iv) the large-scalepopularizing exploitation the unpopular of suchfor the important large-scalebut still underutilized exploitation of and such neglected important crops but still for underutilized global food and and nutritionalneglected crops security for global (Figure food1). and nutritional security (Figure 1). FigureFigure 1. 1.A Acasual casual loop loop diagram diagram showing showing various various steps stepsinvolved involved in the sustainable in the sustainable utilization utilization of wild of wild andand neglected neglected crops crops for forglobal global food food and andnutritional nutritional security. security. (i) Step-1: (i) Step-1: exploration exploration of various of kind various of kind of wildwild and and neglected crops;crops; (ii(ii)) Step-2: Step-2: improving improving the the desirable desirable traits traits in promisingin promising species species by conventional by conventionalas well as modernas well biotechnologicalas modern biotechnological approaches; approaches; (iii) Step-3: (iii) standardization Step-3: standardization and optimization and of optimizationvarious agronomic of various practices agronomic for theirpractices large-scale for their exploitationlarge-scale exploitation and (iv) Step-4: and (iv the) Step-4: popularization the of popularizationunpopular crops of unpopular among farmers, crops among policy farmer makers,s, policy and makers, other stakeholders. and other stakeholders. 2.2. Exploring Exploring the the Unexplored: Unexplored: First First Step Step AA list list of of nutritionally nutritionally relevant, relevant, neglected neglected and and wild wild crops crops for global for global food foodsecurity security [10–14] [10 is– given14] is given in inTable Table1. While1. While it has it has been been reported reported that that about abou 5538t 5538 crops crops have have been been used used for foodfor food by humans by humans throughout throughoutthe history, the only history, 12 crops only contribute 12 crops contribute the lion share the lion of the share current of the global current food global production food production [12,15]. Among [12,15].this, three Among crops this, namely three rice,crops wheat namely and rice, maize wheat account and maize for > account50% the for world’s >50% the calories world’s [15 calories]. Though there [15].are fewThough estimates there are regarding few estimates the number regarding of underutilized the number of species underutilized (for example, species Arora(for example, (2014) reported Arora (2014) reported 992 species across the world), still a majority of them are unknown to various 992 species across the world), still a majority of them are unknown to various stakeholders. Therefore, stakeholders. Therefore, the detailed exploration of such species from various agro-climatic regions the detailed exploration of such species from various agro-climatic regions of the world is important for of the world is important for identifying the promising species (Figure 2) like cereals/pseudo-cereals, rootsidentifying and tubers, the promising pulses, fruits species and (Figure vegetables,2) like nu cerealsts, seeds/pseudo-cereals, and spices etc. roots andand their tubers, successful pulses, fruits utilizationand vegetables, in a dietary nuts, seedsdiversification and spices program etc. and [9,15–17]. their successful For this, utilizationa well-coordinated in a dietary wild diversification crop explorationprogram [9 ,program15–17]. Forat various this, a well-coordinatedscales (i.e., national, wild regional, crop exploration and global) program are imperative. at various For scales (i.e., example,national, Food regional, and Agricultural and global) Organization are imperative. (FAO) Forhas recently example, started Food an and initiative Agricultural to identify Organization the Future(FAO) Smart has recently Food (FSF) started crops an on initiative a regional to identifybasis and the have Future identified Smart 39 Food nutrition-sensitive (FSF) crops on and a regional climatebasis and resilient have crops identified from 39South nutrition-sensitive and South East Asia and as climate FSF [13] resilient with the crops consultation from South of national and South East expertsAsia as from FSF Bangladesh, [13] with the Bhutan, consultation Cambodia, of national India, Lao experts PDR, fromMyanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, Vietnam. Cambodia, While India, theyLao