Energy and food source crop demand claims to be vulnerable to climate change impacts. The new and orphan crops, which in the past have received only limited research attention but are sustainable to environmental systems, are needed. In this review, we summarize the available literature about Ethiopian mustard as an alternative energy source and its sustainable economic importance as a new promising Brassicacea crop for new opportunities in the face of producing sustainable environment and energy development. Ethiopian mustard has many advantages and can be adopted to replace crops that are susceptible to adverse environmental conditions. Ethiopian mustard is becoming a new promising Brassicaceae crop with the current global energy demand increases. However, researchers have only focused on energy source production which has resulted in developing high erucic acid varieties. This results partly in limited studies on developing Ethiopian mustard edible oil varieties. The adoption and scaling-up of this promising crop as an oilseed crop in developing countries and Mediterranean conditions can sustain the impact of climate change with the demand for food and energy debate concepts. Indeed, further agronomic, quality and genomic studies on oilseed nutritional traits for efficient breeding and utilization are needed.

Cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is an important food security and climate‐resilient legume grain crop grown in the semiarid regions of sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). It can symbiotically fix atmospheric nitrogen (N ₂ ) and improve soil fertility, which should be harnessed to increase its yield in the region. This study assessed the mini‐core cowpea collection genotypes for effective and efficient nodulation, aiming to select the superior genotypes for further field evaluation in Ugandan agroecologies. A total of 252 cowpea genotypes were planted in pots in a screen house at Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute, Kabanyolo (MUARIK), in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replications. Seeds were inoculated with Bradyrhizobium spp. (strain ICB756). At early pod formation stage, data were collected on plant vigor (based on plant height, leave greenness, and biomass) and nodulation‐related traits including number of nodule (NN) per plant, proportion of active nodule (AN), and nodule dry weight (NDW) per plant. Results showed that NN and AN ranged from 0% to about 89% and 0% to 100%, averaging 25% and 44.6%, respectively. NDW ranged from 0 to 128.9 mg/plant, averaging 31.7 mg/plant. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences ( p < 0.05) among genotypes for AN and NDW, indicating a genetic diversity between the genotypes which were grouped in four clusters. There was a positive correlation between symbiotic traits and plant vigor, implying a combined possible improvement of these traits. Genotypes such as TVu‐14971, TVu‐1477, and TVu‐14691 were identified as best performers for both nodulation traits and plant vigor, while TVu‐9259, TVu‐14621, and TVu‐7719 exhibited poor nodulation. After confirmation under standardized screening conditions, the present findings could contribute to cowpea breeding programs aiming at developing new cultivars, contributing to agricultural sustainability and food security while maintaining a healthy environment.

Energy and food source crop demand claims to be vulnerable to climate change impacts. The new and orphan crops, which in the past have received only limited research attention but are sustainable to environmental systems, are needed. In this review, we summarize the available literature about Ethiopian mustard as an alternative energy source and its sustainable economic importance as a new promising Brassicacea crop for new opportunities in the face of producing sustainable environment and energy development. Ethiopian mustard has many advantages and can be adopted to replace crops that are susceptible to adverse environmental conditions. Ethiopian mustard is becoming a new promising Brassicaceae crop with the current global energy demand increases. However, researchers have only focused on energy source production which has resulted in developing high erucic acid varieties. This results partly in limited studies on developing Ethiopian mustard edible oil varieties. The adoption and scaling-up of this promising crop as an oilseed crop in developing countries and Mediterranean conditions can sustain the impact of climate change with the demand for food and energy debate concepts. Indeed, further agronomic, quality and genomic studies on oilseed nutritional traits for efficient breeding and utilization are needed.