Chapter 9 - Grain legumes: A diversified diet for sustainable livelihood, food, and nutritional security

Abstract

Growing demand for nutritious, safe, and healthy food, as well as the commitment to preserve biodiversity and other resources, represents a tremendous challenge to agriculture, which is already under threat from climate change. A diverse and healthy plant-based diets may greatly reduce these diet-related diseases and other health-related issues. As a result, sustainable food production had gained increasingly attention in agricultural and food systems. In this context, grain legumes are could play a key role by delivering multiple services in human nutrition in line with sustainability principles. In addition to the contribution of grain legumes in ecosystem services, they serve as a fundamental, worldwide source of high-quality food, and feed particularly for vegetarians. Grain legumes are amazing source of proteins, essential amino acids, dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins and therefore have a significant role in addressing global food and nutritional security. Although, still the global food supplies through grain legumes are very negligible which is only 1.1% of the total global food supply and 1.3% of total global vegetal food supplies. To maximize their involvement in daily dietary energy, these figures must be greatly improved, allowing them to contribute meaningfully to food and nutrition security, as well as sustainable and resilient crop production systems. In this chapter, we looked at how important grain legumes are for long-term livelihood, food, and nutritional security.