Vegetable Genepools in Nepal: An Update on Semi- domesticated, Wild and Wild Relatives Awaiting Conservation and Sustainable Utilization

From time immemorable, native communities of Nepal are consuming varieties of wild and semi-domesticated plants as seasonal vegetables. Such species are highly preferred among the people living in periurban and urban areas too. Unsustainable collection and over exploitation of such resources could limit our capacity in developing cultivars with quality traits that can be commercialized in global scale. Moreover several wild and semi-domesticated vegetable species have multiple use values as medicine and food supplements, which can be exploited for economic benefits of the communities. This chapter provides a revised list of domesticated, wild and semi-domesticated vegetable species including vegetables wild relatives distributed in different ecological zones of Nepal. Genomics of domesticated vegetables, importance of vegetables wild relatives in developing high quality cultivars and available techniques, hotspots of wild vegetables and vegetable wild relatives, methods adopted in conservation assessment, ongoing conservation practices, existing threats and challenges in sustainable management are discussed.