Buckwheat- one of the underutilised and underrated crop with multiple benefits: A review

Abstract

Buckwheat is one among the underutilised crops. Fagopyrum esculentum commonly called as buckwheat belongs to family polygonaceae is a pseudocereal. It is a nutririch crop with multiple uses. Buckwheat is a short duration crop and can be grown in marginal soils with very low input requirement. Apart from human consumption, buckwheat can be used for animal feed. It is a nutririch crop with many health benefits compared to many of the cereal crops. Buckwheat flour is gluten free with low glycemic index. It is also rich in protein and fiber.Buckwheat can be used as a cover crop, leafy vegetable, weed control because of its allelopathic effect on weeds.Despite many health benefits and easy to cultivate the area under buckwheat is very less in India because of lack of proper knowledge regarding the production technology, its multiple uses and lack of proper marketing facility. Buckwheat is one of the climate resilient super foods which is neglected and its potential is underutilised, which should be explored further to avail its benefits.