Author(s):

Sneha Sapkota and Srijana Shrestha

Abstract: Sisnu (Urtica sp.) is a wild, unique, herbaceous, perennial flowering plant which has a long history of use as a source of medicine, food and fiber especially in Nepal. In Nepal, 1 in 4 people lives below poverty line since rice is only considered as the food by Nepalese but rice can’t be cultivated in every situation so one of the solution to the problem of food scarcity may be security of underutilized crop of respective place (indigenous food) and awareness about their importance, consumption and cultivation. Chepang, one of the Himalayan tribe of Nepal are the main consumers of the sisnu as the food (khole). A case study was conducted to analyze the distribution, importance and extent of consumption of sisnu in Nepalese society. For better comparision, places of different climatic condition were selected i.e. purba chitwan (inner terai) and uperdangadi (hilly region) where the direct field observation and interaction with consumers was carried out for about 4 months. It is the best treatment for diabetes and the powder extracted from the root of sisnu is known to be found almost in every aryurvedic medicine. It also has the functions like antioxidant, antidote of rashes and abortifaceints. According to WHO, in world there are about 415 million diabetic patient which can be treated by sisnu if the cultivation of sisnu is promoted. Thus, securing only the major crops like rice, wheat and maize won’t be enough to describe the broad term food security but also securing the indigenous underexploited food(like sisnu of Nepal) at their origin prefectly defines “food security”.

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