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Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is one of the important unattended and unexposed crop cultivated in the regions of the high altitude arid zones of Jammu and Kashmir. Due to the low yielding potential output and cultivation constraints the crop is at the verge of extinction though it is of high medicinal and nutritive value. In this review we provide the vision for buck wheat improvement through conservation and various traditional and innovative plant breeding techniques and inter-spacefic hybridisation. Researchers also must be Characterise variability in buck wheat landraces and also identifies the genotypes with yield and yield attributing traits and quality and utilising these in future breeding programmes and transferring these desirable traits into improved germplasm of cold arid conditions of Ladakh. The genotypes or landraces collected through the exploration trips are being screened to develop and identify promising genotypes of the crop. An appropriate avenue for marketing of the crop is very limited and thus production has not been encouraged. An assured marketing channel can only encourage the farmer to grow this crop in a larger scale in this region.

Key words: Buck wheat, Breeding methods, Conservation, Cold arid climate, Marketing.