Genetic enhancement of indigenous vegetables in Kenya.

Abstract

Indigenous vegetables form a substantial proportion of the diets of most low- and middle-class Kenyans. For rural Kenyans, the vegetables are inexpensive, easily accessible and excellent sources of micronutrients. Sale of the vegetables in rural and urban areas is also a source of income for the producers who are mainly women. This paper reviews aspects of the genetic variation, response to fertilizer application, propagation, deflowering, plant age, density and intercropping of the important Kenyan vegetable species Gynandropsis gynandra [Cleome gynandra], Solanum nigrum, Cucurbita spp. and Crotalaria brevidens.