Abstract
Job’s-tears—a cultigen of great antiquity—is grown in South Asia mainly by the natives of various ethnic groups of Mongolian origin. The plant is used as a minor cereal and fodder. The northeastern region of India is a centre of variability for the genus Coix. It is considered that this plant was introduced here either by the pestoral Aryan invaders, who grew it on the slopes of the Himalayas or during Mongolian conquests when the crop got distributed from the eastern Himalayas to lower subtropical terrains. During plant explorations conducted since 1970 in the northeastern region of India, much variability has been recorded for this crop. The various soft-shelled races now grown in this tract by the tribes are the result of conscious folk domestication and must have been selected for easy hulling and good kernel type. Based on this, and on information on domestication, cultivation and economic usages of this plant among the natives, some findings are presented in this paper.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anon. 1898. The staple crops of Khasi and Jaintia hills. Agric. Ser. 3:18.
Arora, R. K. 1974. Adlay (Coix) crop in Meghalaya. J. Indian Bot. Soc. 52:95–98.
Bor, N. L. 1960. Grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan. Pergamon Press, London.
Burkill, I. H. 1935. A dictionary of the economic products of Malaya Peninsula. 1:629–31.
— 1953. Habits of man and the origins of the cultivated plants of the Old world. Proc. Linn. Soc. London 164:12–41.
Hooker, J. D. 1848. Himalayan Journal II, 289. Kaul, A. K. 1973. Job’s tears. In Evolutionary studies in world crops (ed. by J. Hutchinson). Cambridge University Press, London.
Jain, S. K. and D. K. Banerjee. 1974. Preliminary observations on the Ethnobotany of the genus Coix. Econ. Bot. 28:38–42.
Murakami, M., et al. 1963. Studies on the breeding of genus Coix. The relation between the cutting numbers and grass yields of Hatomugi (Coix mayuen Roman) and Juzudama (Coix lacryma jobi L.) and some breeding strains. Scientific reports Kyoto pre-fectural Univ. Agric. No. 15:1–11.
Pierris, H. A. 1936. Adlay. Trop. Agri. Mag. Ceylon 86:217–219.
Schaaffhausen, R. V. 1952. Adlay or Job’s-tears a cereal of potentially greater economic importance. Econ. Bot. 6:21–27.
Uphof, J. th. 1968. The dictionary of economic products. Stechert-Hafner Service Agency, Inc., New York.
Vallaeys, G. 1948. Le ‘Coix lacryma-jobi.’ Bull. Agri. Congo Belge 39:247–304.
Venkateswarlu, J. and R. S. K. Chaganti. 1973. Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-job L.) ICAR Tech. Bull. 44. New Delhi.
Watt, G. 1904. Coix spp. or Job’s tears—a review of all available information. Agric, ledger no. 13:513–553.
Wester, P. S. 1920. Notes on Adlay. Philip. Agric. Rev. 13:217–222.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arora, R.K. Job’s-tears (coix lacryma-jobi)—a minor food and fodder crop of northeastern India. Econ Bot 31, 358–366 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02866887
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02866887