FAGOPYRUM 



TATARICUM 



Buckwheat 



BUCKWHEAT 



F 



D.E.P., 

 iii. 310-11. 



Temperate. 



Alpine. 



Cultiva- 

 tion. 



Seasons. 

 Lower Hills. 



Plains a 

 Vegetable. 



Higher Reaches 

 Grain Crop. 



Catch Crop. 



Chief Food-grain. 



Bread. 

 Spinach. 



FAGOPYRUM, Gaertn. ; Fl Br. Ind., v., 54-5 ; POLYGONACE^E. 



F. esculentum, Moench / Duthie and Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, 1893, pt. 

 iii., 25, t. 83; Eec. Bot. Surv. Ind., i., 33, 40, 219, 262; Woodrow, Gard. in Ind., 

 1899, 430 ; Mukerji, Handbook Ind. Agri., 1901, 56, 260. This is best known as 

 Buckwheat or Brank, phaphra, kotu, kultu, rajgir, doron, ugla, ogal, bares katu, 

 bres, trumba (tramba), etc. Extensively cultivated on the temperate Himalaya 

 and lower hills of India, from Afghanistan and Kashmir to Darjeeling, Assam and 

 Burma. There are many cultivated states, some grown for the grain, others as a 

 vegetable, and these blend imperceptibly into the wild *'. <'J/UO*IMI, Meissn. 



F. tataricum. Gaertn. ; Duthie and Fuller, I.e. 26-8, tt. 84, 96. This is the 

 kaspat, kala trumba (black trumba), chin, karmabres, ugal, kdthu, trdo rjas, etc. 

 It is usually known as Black Buckwheat, but as a rule phaphra denotes*'. *- 

 ii'iitnin and ugal, v. fntarifum. This form is cultivated throughout the higher 

 temperate Himalaya, especially on the western extremity between altitudes of 

 9, 000 and 15,000 feet. It is a taller, coarser plant than the other species, having 

 longer grains (nuts, as they are sometimes called) of a black colour, and with the 

 angles rounded off and keeled toward the top, instead of being sharp. There are 

 many cultivated forms, one from Kangra having been treated as a distinct variety 

 under the name /im*i />. 



On the lower Himalaya, between 4,000 and 10,000 feet, F. esculent inn 

 is grown, being sown in July and reaped in October. In the lower reaches 

 of its mountainous area it is usually raised more as a vegetable than a grain. 

 Indeed in Northern and Eastern Bengal, Assam and Burma (and even in 

 the Deccan, the Central Provinces and Bihar) it is often met with (on the 

 plains) as a catch or garden crop, where it is exclusively used as a vegetable 

 or fodder. Of the mountains of Assam, Manipur and Burma, it might be 

 said that a climatic depression exists which admits of plants being grown 

 two or three thousand feet below their normal habitats. Hence in these 

 regions the grain-yielding buckwheat becomes an important article of 

 food at altitudes even below 5,000 feet. In the higher reaches of its area 

 buckwheat often becomes exceedingly important, more especially F. 

 tataricutn, which, following the spring barley or wheat, is sown in July 

 and gives a supplementary crop before the early snowfall puts a stop to 

 agricultural operations. It is frequently utilised as a first crop on new 

 clearances, and in the most alpine tracts sheltered portions of the grassy 

 slopes are utilised in giving a catch crop one year and left fallow for several 

 succeeding years. It may also be grown on soils too poor for wheat and 

 barley. It seems to succeed fairly well on rocky soils containing a high 

 percentage of granitic detritus, but not on clay. Lawrence (Valley of 

 Kashmir, 1895, 338) informs us that buckwheat (both species) can be 

 grown late on almost any soil, and that in the higher villages F. tatariciun 

 constitutes almost the only food-grain of the people. In the lower valleys, 

 he adds, irrigation is sometimes given. Mukerji urges the claims of buck- 

 wheat as a catch crop ; it yields a return in ten weeks after sowing ; 

 it can be grown on poor soils and is able to withstand a greater extreme in 

 heat and cold than can be said of any other known crop. 



As a human food buckwheat does not hold a high place, since about 

 20 per cent, of the weight is lost in decortication. The nuts are husked and 

 ground into flour, which is made into bread or eaten as porridge. The 

 leaves and shoots are boiled as a spinach. For poultry and horses, how- 

 ever, the unhusked nuts are regarded as very superior, while the straw 

 is more nutritious than that of cereal. F. tataricum, var. himalaicu, 

 is a better food than F. esculentum, as it is richer in oil and contains less 

 indigestible fibre. 



532 



