ABSTRACT
Buckwheat is an underutilized crop native to China, mainly used for food, feed and medical raw material. It is characterized by its early maturity, cold tolerance, rich nutrition and health functions. More than 3,000 accessions of Fagopyrum were identified and conserved for future use by the National Crop Genebank in China. Efforts were made to promote and use the biodiversity of buckwheat by relevant national research organizations in collaboration with Bioversity International for more than 20 years. Great progress has been made in buckwheat biodiversity evaluation, variety improvement, production practice, food processing and marketing, which has laid a solid foundation for the development of a buckwheat industry in China. However, there are still many gaps that need to be filled by research in order to meet the increased demand for the crop in China. Therefore, key action plans were put forward to advance the conservation of biodiversity for variety improvement, farming practices for high productivity, the value-chain for income generation and relevant policies for the sustainable development of the buckwheat industry in China.
