ISHS Acta Horticulturae 752: I International Conference on Indigenous Vegetables and Legumes. Prospectus for Fighting Poverty, Hunger and Malnutrition
ROLE OF INDIGENOUS VEGETABLES IN NATIONAL ECONOMY AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN BANGLADESH |
| Authors: | M.A. Rahim, M.A. Kabir, M.S. Alam, M.S. Bari |
| Abstract:
Bangladesh is predominantly an agricultural country where agriculture contributes about 32% of GDP. Vegetables are considered as one of most important groups of food crops due to their high nutritive value, relatively higher yield and higher return. In Bangladesh daily per capita availability of vegetables excluding tuber crops is only 52 g against the required amount of 200 g. This big gap is the main reason for widespread malnutrition. But the paradox is that indigenous vegetables (IVs) such as yams, teasle gourd, sponge gourd, bitter gourd, pumpkin, pointed gourd, ash gourd, ribbed gourd, string beans, sword bean, stem amaranth, Indian spinach, plantain, aroids, moringa and brinjal are the rich sources of minerals, vitamins and essential amino acids. The country is blessed with more than seventy different types of vegetables. About two-thirds of the total vegetables, other than roots and tubers, are produced during the short winter season. However, summer is the scarce season for vegetables. IVs offer scope for year-round production in the homesteads and hilly region of Bangladesh. It can create a number of job opportunities in the rural and suburban areas and in the complementary fields of business that arise from productions, such as marketing, processing and transportation. Present data showed that IVs can play an important role in alleviating the poor nutritional status of human beings in Bangladesh. | |
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