"Globally there is concern for diminishing nutritional security. Land under agriculture is dwindling, water for irrigation becoming scarce and costly and availability of labour getting lesser, the need for future crops and alternate source of nutrition is getting attention. Under CGIAR, an all inclusive future crops international has been established to bring to light underexploited and underutilized crops. Horticultural crops especially vegetables, fruits, ornamentals, medicinal plants and aromatic plants are unique in presence of a large number of plants with possibility for edible uses and considerable nutritive value. Many are wild weeds in one part of the globe but edible and consumed in another part of the globe. A few such plants are used for phytosanitation and phytoremediation but are getting attention as raw materials for biofuel production. Energy and water are two natural resources getting threat due to climate change resulting global warming and ozone depletion."

K.V.Peter: Former VC and Presently Professor of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur 680 656, Kerala, India

Section I. Vegetables and Tubers: 1. Capsicum chinense Jacq. (Mali Mulaku) by P. Indira. 2. Minor greens and salads by C. Mini. 3. Future leaf vegetables by B. Varalakshmi. 4. Vigna dalzelliama (O. Kuntzc) Verdc. . A wild legume from Eastern Ghats of Peninsular India by L. Rama Murthy and D. Thangadourai. 5. White Yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir) by Oyetunzi and Olusola Jacob. Section II. Fruits: 6. Underutilized Nut Fruits of Hills by G. Pandey, D. Pandey and S.K. Shukla. 7. Lesser known edible fruits of North Eastern India by R.K. Patel, L.C. De, Akath Singh and C. Bidyut Deka. 8. Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis Park) by Sarah T. George and P.S. Manoj. 9. Nectarine - A new promising fruit crop for mid hills by Jayant Kumar and Kishore Khosla. 10. Pecan nut by J.M. Badyal and S.K. Upadhyay. 11. Persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb) by Kazutoshi Hamada. 12. Aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) - Value added products by Pareek Sunil. 13. Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) - Nutritional data, medicinal values and uses by Sudha George Valavi and Lisa Thottapilly. Section III. Ornamental Plants: 14. Cleome gynandra. nutritional and medicinal properties by E. Van Den Heever, S.L. Venter and W.S. Jansen Van Rensburg. 15. Ornamentals for essentials oils by A. Sobhana. Section IV. Medicinal Plants: 16. Sambucus nigra L. in Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula) by Joan Valles, Maria Angels Bonet, Teresa Garnatje, Joan Muntane, Montse Parada and Montse Rigat. 17. Underutilized medicinal plants of Uttarakhand Hills by Shailesh Tripathi and V.K. Sah. 18. Seabuckthorn. A new underutilized fruit crops by Brahma Singh