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Elevation map of Bhutan with the location of the two study sites Elaborated by the 1st author TK at Ministry of Agriculture, Bhutan.
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Bhutan represents typical mountain agriculture farming systems with unique challenges. The agriculture production systems under environmental constraints are typical of small-scale agricultural subsistence systems related to family farming in the Himalayan Mountains with very low level of mechanization, numerous abiotic stresses influenced by clima...
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Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a nutrient-dense cereal crop that has been introduced in Bhutan in recent years. There is no data in Bhutan on post-harvest handling losses of quinoa, and literature from other countries are limited. This study was conducted in Saling Gewog under Mongar District to assess the losses of quinoa at different post-harvest...
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... New crops have been introduced to adapt to mountain farming conditions and promote farming systems diversification to strengthen their sustainability [14]. Some studies have shown that using agroforestry systems can enhance agricultural biodiversity conservation, create more diversified sources of livelihood, and be essential to supporting the sustainable livelihoods of smallholder farmers in mountainous regions [15]. ...
... Compared with other crops, quinoa also has a high ability to adapt to harsh weather and different environments that present great difficulty and lead to a reduction in yield Katwal and Bazile 2020). It is likely that the production of quinoa is not particularly impacted by sharp differences in temperature between day and night (Hinojosa L et al., 2019). ...
The available data shows that Egypt has not conducted a thorough investigation into insect pests that impact quinoa. The main objective of this study was to identify and categorize insects and other natural enemies of quinoa in the Fayum Government. In four categories-insect pests, other pests, insect natural enemies, and spider natural enemies-a variety of new records have been recorded. The fauna was divided into two class-taxonomy categories, insect and miscellaneous, in addition to three behavioral categories: pest (P), natural enemy (N), and other (O). These groups of animals have diverse roles in the environment, including eating excrement, breaking down organic matter (fungivores), producing honey, and decomposing organic matter. Thirty-five insect species were found in the data during each of the two seasons; 22 of these insect species were pests, 9 were natural enemies, and 4 were categorized as other. The insect pest species (P) Monomorium pharaonic, Myzus persicae, and Schizomyia buboniae were the most significant, followed by Cataglyphis savignyi (O), which feeds on dead insects in the soil, and then the natural enemies (N) Philonthus longicornis, Paederus aliferii, and Kleidotoma sp. In the miscellaneous group, Collembola species were highly significant, followed by the true spiders Sengletus extricates, Wadicosa fidelis, and Pardosa sp. Quinoa cultivation faces many challenges, such as climate change, that require the production of more food of higher quality and quantity to combat global hunger and improve food security and safety.
... The unique qualities of quinoa have been utilized to develop a wide range of high value-added products, including frozen food packages, beverages, botanical supplements, cosmetics, breads, and medicines [13][14][15][16]. As quinoa is nutritious and resilient, the FAO declared 2013 as the "International Year of Quinoa", which has brought quinoa more and more attention and a gradual increase in planting area [17,18]. Quinoa is adapted to many unfavorable climatic conditions, such as drought, high salinity, and frost [19], and can also be grown in geological conditions including lowlands, deserts, and plateaus [20,21]. ...
... When subjected to drought, quinoa generates a series of response reactions, and these drought response mechanisms can be categorized into three main groups. (1) Phenotypic changes, including changes in plant height, leaf area, biomass, and root morphology [18]. (2) Physiological and biochemical responses, including photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, antioxidant responses, and osmotic pressure regulation. ...
... Quinoa also inhibits water loss by reducing its leaf area, increasing its cell wall thickness, and enhancing its cell wall elasticity through the early shedding of old leaves [27]. Based on these characteristics, quinoa can grow in places that receive more than 200 mm of rainfall, but drought still results in lower yields [18,28]. ...
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is an annual broadleaf plant belonging to the Amaranthaceae family. It is a nutritious food crop and is considered to be drought-tolerant, but drought is still one of the most important abiotic stress factors limiting its yield. Quinoa responses to drought are related to drought intensity and genotype. This study used two different drought-responsive quinoa cultivars, LL1 (drought-tolerant) and ZK1 (drought-sensitive), to reveal the important mechanisms of drought response in quinoa by combining physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses. The physiological analysis indicated that Chla/Chlb might be important for drought tolerance in quinoa. A total of 1756 and 764 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in LL1 and ZK1, respectively. GO (Gene Ontology) enrichment analysis identified 52 common GO terms, but response to abscisic acid (GO:0009737) and response to osmotic stress (GO:0006970) were only enriched in LL1. KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) analysis revealed that glycerophospholipid metabolism (ko00564) and cysteine and methionine metabolism (ko00270) ranked at the top of the list in both cultivars. A total of 1844 metabolites were identified by metabolomic analysis. “Lipids and lipid-like” molecules had the highest proportions. The DEMs in LL1 and ZK1 were mainly categorized 6 and 4 Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) superclasses, respectively. KEGG analysis revealed that the ‘α-linolenic acid metabolism’ was enriched in both LL1 and ZK1. Joint KEGG analysis also revealed that the ‘α-linolenic acid metabolism’ pathway was enriched by both the DEGs and DEMs of LL1. There were 17 DEGs and 8 DEMs enriched in this pathway, and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) may play an important role in the drought response of quinoa. This study will provide information for the identification of drought resistance in quinoa, research on the molecular mechanism of drought resistance, and genetic breeding for drought resistance in quinoa.
... Bhutan sees an increase in over nutrition and micronutrient deficiency contributing to the increasing level of Non-Communicable Diseases, responsible for 69 percent of the reported disease burden in Bhutan (WFP, 2019(WFP, -2023. In 2015 quinoa was introduced through Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO's) support to Bhutan as a new crop to enhance the food and nutritional security of the Bhutanese people and to adapt this versatile crop to the local mountain agriculture conditions as a climate resilient crop for diversifying the farmer's traditional potato and maize based cropping systems (Katwal and Bazile, 2020). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognized quinoa as a leading crop for food security and sustainability in the context of global change in 2013 (Ruiz et al., 2014). ...
With the introduction of quinoa in Bhutan as a priority crop in 2015, its production is seen increasing every year and so is its demand owing to its nutritional value. Quinoa is a great source of protein and has digestive health benefits including many other health benefits. However quinoa contains some anti-nutritional compound known as saponin which has a bitter and soapy taste and it can also be highly toxic if ingested in large quantities. Therefore the saponin content in quinoa needs to be removed before consumption. Currently there are only few numbers of quinoa polishing machines in Bhutan imported from Japan which is very expensive. Most of the Bhutanese farmers own a rice mill which actually is not designed for polishing quinoa, however a sieve which is the same size as that of quinoa polishing machine was designed and fabricated and used in rice mill for polishing quinoa and results were compared. A comparative evaluation of the machine was conducted and the result indicated high correlation with that of Japanese quinoa machine in polishing efficiency with higher machine capacity.
... The river basins fall under alpine, temperate, and subtropical climate zones. It can be further classified into six agro-ecological zones: alpine (3500-7500 m), cool temperate (2600-3600 m), warm temperate (1800-2600 m), dry subtropical (1200-1800 m), humid subtropical (600-1200 m), and wet subtropical (100-600 m) (Katwal et al., 2020). The annual total average rainfall from 1996 to 2020 in the PRB varied from 807-1673 mm and 583-1389 mm for the WRB. ...
... Nevertheless, crop and livestock types vary largely across the agroecological zones of the country (Katwal et al., 2015). Almost 53% of the total areas of Bhutan belong to mountainous terrain with alpine and temperate zone, which makes the country more vulnerable to climatic variability (Katwal and Bazile, 2020). ...
... Nevertheless, crop and livestock types vary largely across the agroecological zones of the country (Katwal et al., 2015). Almost 53% of the total areas of Bhutan belong to mountainous terrain with alpine and temperate zone, which makes the country more vulnerable to climatic variability (Katwal and Bazile, 2020). ...
... Furthermore, it can be grown in tropical, semi-tropical, droughtlike situations and cold places as it is frost-tolerant. [14] Bear, Cherry Vanilla, Cochabamba, Dave 407, Kcoito, Isluga, Kaslala, Linares, Puno, Gossi, Titicaca, Red lighthouse, Redhead, Rainbow, and Temuco are some quinoa varieties that are often cultivated. [15] There are currently over 250 different varieties of quinoa. ...
Quinoa is a food grain crop that has gained popularity in recent years due to its high nutrient content, phytochemical qualities, and health advantages. Quinoa grain has a high concentration of amino acids, fiber, minerals, vitamins, saponins, and phenolics that can help alleviate various biological diseases in the human body. It contains a variety of biological components and nutraceutical compounds that promote human health. It is an extremely nutritious, gluten-free wonder grain and has the potential to be utilized as biomedicine owing to the existence of functional chemicals that may aid in the prevention of various chronic illnesses. Quinoa has gained popularity in recent years due to its excellent nutritional content and as a component in gluten-free food. It could help to guide the population toward better health. Due to its higher nutritional and health benefits compared to traditional cereal grains, including its high protein concentration, tocopherols, fatty acids, phenolic compounds, phytosterols, low glycemic index, and gluten-free status, it is a promising grain for human consumption and nutrition around the world. The present review paper has been undertaken to provide an overview of the nutrient composition and valuable nutraceutical properties of quinoa.
... Another important point is to involve farmers and consumers from the beginning, in a pathway that considers local needs and tries to give them a specific solution. The example of Bhutan, with the development of new quinoa-based dishes, was a key element of quinoa's success story in the country [135]. ...
Citation: Afzal, I.; Zia Ul Haq, M.; Ahmed, S.; Hirich, A.; Bazile, D. Challenges and Perspectives for Integrating Quinoa into the Agri-Food System. Plants 2023, 12, 3361. https://doi. Abstract: Quinoa is a highly nutritious and abiotic stress-tolerant crop that can be used to ensure food security for the rapidly growing world population under changing climate conditions. Various experiments, based on morphology, phenology, physiology, and yield-related attributes, are being conducted across the globe to check its adoptability under stressful environmental conditions. High weed infestation, early stand establishment, photoperiod sensitivity, loss of seed viability after harvest, and heat stress during its reproductive stage are major constraints to its cultivation. The presence of saponin on its outer surface is also a significant restriction to its local consumption. Scientists are using modern breeding programs, such as participatory approaches, to understand and define breeding goals to promote quinoa adaptation under marginalized conditions. Despite its rich nutritional value, there is still a need to create awareness among people and industries about its nutritional profile and potential for revenue generation. In the future, the breeding of the sweet and larger-grain quinoa varietals will be an option for avoiding the cleaning of saponins, but with the risk of having more pests in the field. There is also a need to focus on mechanized farming systems for the cultivation, harvesting, and processing of quinoa to facilitate and expand its cultivation and consumption across the globe, considering its high genetic diversity.
... Rice, maize, wheat, barley, buckwheat, and millets are the main staple grains grown by farmers, while other Dru-Na-Gu are losing popularity amidst a few other commodities dominating the markets. Bhutanese farmers are primarily small-scale and marginal, relying on integrated subsistence agriculture systems (Katwal and Bazile, 2020); traditional farming practices on valley and mountain range carving slopes pose challenges to farmers in producing adequate food commodities (Tshewang et al., 2017). Farming has traditionally been committed to cultivating grains to fulfill subsistence requirements, and it is still labor-intensive and deeply ingrained in tradition (NBC, 2016;Norbu, 1995). ...
Farmers in Bhutan have developed and produced varieties of food crops well-adapted to microclimatic niches over centuries. Farmers had been cultivating at least nine food crops known as Dru-Na-Gu. However, only rice, maize, wheat, barley, buckwheat, and millets are commonly grown by farmers as staple food crops, with the remaining Dru-Na-Gu losing their popularity. Bhutanese farmers are predominantly small-scale, marginal, and reliant on integrated subsistence agriculture systems, and farming is still labor-intensive and deeply ingrained in tradition. As much of the agriculture is non-commercial subsistence agriculture, technological backwardness still prevails. Despite the effort to overcome technological backwardness with research and development initiatives such as the release of well-adapted, improved food crop varieties and management practices, little attention is paid to the overall trends and growth rates in spite of their utility in crop forecasts and planning. This study examined the trend and growth rates for 60 years (1961-2020) of time series data on the area, production , and yield of Dru-Na-Gu. Semi-log trend function was used to ascertain the trend and growth rates of the area, production, and yield. Although increasing agricultural production helped to lessen rural poverty, there was a significant deceleration in productivity and area under major cereals cultivation over the study period. However, there was a slightly accelerated growth in the yield of major cereals, which could be due to the introduction of improved varieties. Considering the significant deceleration of area and productivity of major cereals as opposed to the burgeoning import of cereals or cereal-based products, intensifying cereal production and regulating infrastructure development on agricultural land can conserve land needed to achieve food self-sufficiency.
