Conserving the Indigenous Vegetable Germplasm of Southeast Asia

Liwayway M. Engle and Flordeliza C. Faustino

Abstract

indigenous vegetables (IVs) are vegetable species native to or originating from a region or environment. Most of the IVs are underutilized and usually grown in home gardens for special purposes. Being neglected species, they are in danger of being replaced by cultivated species. The lack of information on the various uses, propagation requirements, and how IVs could be integrated in the current production systems is one of the challenges that need to be addressed. As a prerequisite to sustainable conservation and utilization, the AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center has undertaken exploration and collection IV germplasm throughout the Southeast Asian region. This resulted in the assembly of more than 55,000 accessions of seed, leafy and fruit vegetable including 12,000 accessions of 200 species from the nine Southeast Asia countries. The top genera in the Southeast Asian collection were Vigna, Capsicum, Solanum, Luffa, Glycine, Cucumis, Cucurbita, Brassica, Abelmoschus, and Amaranthus. The top species were Vigna radiata, Solanum melongena, Glycine max, Vigna unguiculata, Capsicum annuum, Lycopersicon esculentum, Luffa aegyptiaca, Abelmoschus esculentus, Cucumis sativus, and Luffa acutangula. Thailand had the highest number of accessions (4209), followed by the Philippines (2475), Indonesia (1591), Malaysia (1170), Vietnam (1084), Lao PDR (768), Cambodia (667), Myanmar (40), and Singapore (1). These valuable plant genetic resources are being conserved, regenerated, characterized and evaluated prior to distribution to participating countries for demonstration and promotion purposes.