Coix: an underutilized functional food crop of Mizoram

Coix (Coix lacryma-jobi) comes under underutilized crops as it is neither cultivated commercially on a large scale nor widely traded. The Northeastern region of India harbours a rich diversity of Coix. This crop has diverse varieties from food to ethnic ornaments worn by the Mizo people. The soft-shelled type (var ma-yuen), locally called ‘Mim’ has been an important cereal crop among the Mizo rural communities for a long time. The grains are highly nutritious and its exceptional medicinal aspects have been extensively researched. Meanwhile, the seeds of the wild type (var lacryma-jobi) are excellent beads for ornamental purposes and are key components in making traditional head gear ‘Vakiria’ worn by Mizo ladies on festive occasions. It is recently gaining importance as a ‘functional food’, because it is a rich source of nutrients and bioactive compounds. Its grains are gluten free which benefits people with celiac disease. It is used for preparing flour, soups, porridge, gruels, salads, desserts, snack, wine, sweets, etc. It is found to have diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antidiarrheal, antioxidant, antipyretic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, analgesic, hypotensive, and sedative properties. Coix germplasm are rapidly disappearing from wild and jhum lands, and without conservation a large population of genetic diversity will be lost from Northeast India. Mizoram also possesses a wide array of germplasm which could potentially contribute to research priorities. However, the ignorance on nutritional value of the crop, lack of standard agronomic practice, unavailability of high yielding quality seeds, potential varieties suitable for Mizoram conditions, processing infrastructures and marketing have diminished the interest of farmers in popularizing this crop. In this regards, thirty-nine Coix genotypes were evaluated owing to their agronomic characteristics to identify promising genotypes suitable for Mizoram conditions. Based on the overall mean performances for yield and yield components, two genotypes RJT-1 (39.74 q/ha) and RJT-2 (35.27 q/ha) were found superior for seed yield and other yield-related traits under Mizoram conditions. In addition, the occurrence of invasive fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) on Coix was observed and the damage incidence ranged between 7.23 and 10.86% in the vegetative growth stages (45–75 days crop) from the last week of August to the end of September. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of fall armyworm occurrence on Coix crop from India.