Although only about 30 crops provide the bulk of human nutrition and just over a hundred
species of plants contribute 90 percent of the supply of food crops by weight, calories, protein
and fat for most of the countries of the world, this gives a false impression and a distorted view
of the global contribution made by plant diversity to human activities. Thousands of species
are utilized worldwide, not just for nutrition but to supply energy, fibres, medicines and other
needs. In fact, about 8000 plant species have been recorded in cultivation and many of these
are what are variously described as underutilized, underdeveloped, neglected, minor,
promising, orphan or relict crops or species and life support species. Since all these terms
are ambiguous, they are referred to here, along with the commodities derived from them, as
UOCs (i.e. Under-utilized and Orphan species and Commodities). Similar situations can be found for animal and fish species