Underutilized arid vegetable for income

Dryland horticulture has  enormous  scope  in  providing  nutrition  rich  food,  social security and eco-restoration to  the  inhabitants  of  desert  and  tribal  areas. While assessing distinctness of  hot  arid  and  semi-arid  agroclimate  of  Rajasthan, it is accomplished that non-availability  of  apposite  crop-genotypes  and production techniques are  two  prime  limitations  in  success  of  vegetable  culture. Traditionally, kachri  (Cucumis  melo  var.  callosus  /  agrestis),  kakadia  /  snap melon  (Cucumis  melo  var.  momordica),  mateera  (Citrullus  lanatus),  tinda (Praecitrullus  fistulosus)  and  guar  (Cyamopsis  tetragonoloba)  are  grown. Besides,  khejri  (Prosopis  cineraria)  is  playing  a  vital  role  in  long-established farming,  and  its  tender  pods  are  used  for  vegetable  purpose.  With  the establishment  of  national  centre  in  1993  at  Bikaner,  systematic  research  was started  for germplasm  conservation  and  utilization  in  native  crop-plants  having vegetable  potentialities.  The  crop-genotype  studies  over  45  vegetables  at  Central Institute  of  Arid  Horticulture,  demonstrated  that  there  is  a  breathtaking  scope  in  getting  quality  marketable  yield  adopting  production  site  management concept  (HBCPSMA),  provided  trait  specific  genotypes.  With  khejri  models, higher  yield  in  prioritized  vegetable  and  income  @  Rs.75,000-2,25,000/  ha/year was  obtained  in  comparison  to  the  traditional  cropping  (Rs. 23,000-42,000).  Thus, technological  advancement  in  under-scored  arid  vegetables  is  a  boon  towards better  income  and  nutrition  in  resource  constrainted  environment.