Status of Indigenous Vegetables in Southern Part of Rajasthan I.B. Maurya, K. Arvindakshan, S.K. Sharma and R. Jalwania College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar-236 001 (Rajasthan) India Keywords: Indigenous vegetable, kachri, snapmelon, spine gourd, mougri Abstract Southern part of Rajasthan is predominantly a tribal dominated area having harsh climate, hence, only indigenous vegetables (IVs) which are hardy, drought resistant and have short duration grow well. Some of them namely kachari (Cucumis melo var. agrestis), snap melon (Cucumis melo var. momordica Duthie and Fuller), spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb. ex Wild.), bitter melon (M. balsamina L.) and hill colocynth [Cucumis hardwickii (Royle) Gabaev, grow naturally during rainy season and generate good source of income for the tribals. These vegetables possess very good nutritive and medicinal value with resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses but till now no systematic efforts have been made to improve the existing land races of these IVs. INTRODUCTION Indigenous vegetables have immense potential in enhancing regional food production. They are cheap and good source of nutrition. However, IVs find good place in the home gardens. Despite of huge variability very little attention has been given by the horticulturists to improve the existing land races and harness their potential. If the potentiality of IVs is properly exploited, that may be helpful in achieving the food and nutritional security of any country. In this paper, an attempt has been made to gather the information regarding the potential of IVs of southern part of Rajasthan. PHYSIOGRAPHY OF SOUTHERN PART OF RAJASTHAN Arid zone of India is the largest desert of the world, spread over 31.7 million ha areas in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Rajasthan covers the largest area (62%). Southern districts of Rajasthan (Fig.1) Banswara, Dungarpur, Udaipur, part of Sirohi and Chittor districts are situated in foothills of the Aravali range where topography is a hilly terrain. Holdings are generally small and scattered and situated on varying slope gradient into deep and narrow valleys. High temperature (48 ° C), erratic monsoon and low precipitation (530 mm) limit the sustainable production of vegetables, however, it favors the quality production of some IVs. About 55% the community belongs to the tribals who often migrate in search of wages to the nearby town. Despite such situation, IVs play an important role in nutritional security and uplifting of socio-economic status of the people. POTENTIAL OF IVS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION IVs namely cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), balsamina (Momordica balsamina L.), kachari (Cucumis melo var. agrestis), snapmelon (Cucumis melo var. momordica), spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb. ex Wild), rat tail radish (Raphanus sativus var. caudatus) round melon [Praecitrullus fistulosus (Stocks) Pang.], ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula L.), sponge gourd [Luffa cylindrica (L.) M. J. Roem], cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.], cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonaloba (L.) Taub.], fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum L.; T. corniculata L.), chenopods (Chenopodium album L.), yam (Dioscoria alata L.), etc. hold important position in daily diet of rural masses. THE GENUS CUCUMIS The genus Cucumis has more than 30 species of which cucumber and melons have major economic importance. Cucumis melo L. is big polymorphic taxa comprising a large 193 Proc. I st IC on Indig. Veg. and Legumes Eds. M.L. Chadha et al. Acta Hort. 752, ISHS 2007