Yield and Palatability of Potential Indigenous Leafy Vegetable of Cold Arid trans-Himalayan Ladakh, India

  • Tsewang Rinchen DRDO-Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, Leh Ladakh-194101, Jammu & Kashmir, India
  • Narendra Singh DRDO-Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, Leh Ladakh-194101, Jammu & Kashmir, India
  • Samar Bahadur Maurya DRDO-Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, Leh Ladakh-194101, Jammu & Kashmir, India
Keywords: Indigenous leafy vegetables, cold desert, Ladakh, organoleptic, yield, earliness

Abstract

Not much attention has been paid to a wide range of indigenous leafy vegetables that can grow in high altitude harsh climatic conditions with minimal care. Therefore, a study was carried out on yield potential and palatability of indigenous leafy vegetables (ILV) that grows in trans-Himalayan Ladakh. Seven ILV viz. Fagopyrum tataricum, Rumex patientia, Fagopyrum esculentum, Amaranthus cruentus, Malva vertisilester, Lepidium latifolium and Atriplex hortensis that are being used by native people of Ladakh were recorded for their morphological characters, earliness, yield and other consumer preference traits. The highest yield was recorded for A. hortensis (1.80±0.06 kg/m2). The study suggested that A. hortensis and A. crunteus have high palatability and are most preferred by the consumers. Yield potential of the cold hardy A. hortensis is significantly higher and it is an early maturing crop. Therefore, detail studies on A. hortensis are required, and efforts need to be made for large scale cultivation of the species.

Author Biographies

Tsewang Rinchen, DRDO-Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, Leh Ladakh-194101, Jammu & Kashmir, India

Mr. Tsewang Rinchen is M.Sc Botany working as Senior Research Fellow and pursuing Ph.D in the Vegetable Science Division, DRDO-DIHAR, Leh. He currently working on entitled ‘Morphological molecular and nutritional characterization of indigenous vegetable Atriplex hortensis L. in Ladakh.

He has three years of experience in the field of ecology, plant
collection, ethanobotany and plant taxonomy of cold desert. He has worked on entitled’ Population assessment and prioritization of economically important, rare and over exploited plants of cold desert for conservation’ He has over dozen of research publications in national and International journals.

Narendra Singh, DRDO-Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, Leh Ladakh-194101, Jammu & Kashmir, India

Dr. Narendra Singh is M.Phil. Ph.D, Scientist ‘F’ and Head, Vegetable Science Division at DRDO-DIHAR, Leh. He has 22 years of experience in Horticulture Research and Development in high altitude. He has 06 patents, over 50 publications in reputed national and international journals, 05 books, 11 chapters in different books, 20 technical and extension bulletins to his credit. Besides he has honoured with different awards for his outstanding R&D work of the specialized field.

Samar Bahadur Maurya, DRDO-Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, Leh Ladakh-194101, Jammu & Kashmir, India
Mr Samar Bahadur Maurya is Technical Officer ‘A’ in Vegetable Science Division at DIHAR, Leh. He is technically well verse in handling germplasm conservation, maintaining quality in seeds, seed production, greenhouse and vegetable cultivation in Ladakh. He is assisting in plant protection through various research and development projects
Published
2018-03-23
How to Cite
Rinchen, T., Singh, N., & Maurya, S. (2018). Yield and Palatability of Potential Indigenous Leafy Vegetable of Cold Arid trans-Himalayan Ladakh, India. Defence Life Science Journal, 3(2), 136-139. https://doi.org/10.14429/dlsj.3.12567
Section
Cold Arid Agro Animal Technologies