Tuber crops: Treasure of soil for better production, better nutrition and better life

Abstract

Tropical tuber crops like cassava, sweet potato, yams, elephant foot yam, taro, tannia, arrowroot and chinese potato are ethnic starchy vegetables with high production potential, photosynthetic efficiency, nutritive value, cooking quality and grown throughout India ensuring food and nutritional security to the marginalised population of the country. They have higher biological efficiency, can tolerate drought and shade, withstand flood and salinity to some extent and adapted to marginal environments with low soil fertility. These crops are comparatively free from pests and disease and can be grown with less inputs including water. Hence, these crops are known as ‘climate resilient’ and ‘climate smart future crops’. They have immense industrial uses in the production of starch, sago, alcohol, liquid glucose, vitamin C, as a raw material for poultry and animal feed besides medicinal properties.