Improving economic status of potato/tuber growers

Abstract

Tuber crops offer tremendous opportunity for establishment of micro-mini, small and medium-scale enterprises at village level. Besides, they also offer opportunity for greening rural development through healthy ecosystems support and sustainable agriculture which is the major mandate of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM/Aajeevika) launched by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. To realize that potential in a comprehensive manner, greater thrust is necessary in tuber crops research, by spreading their cultivation to non-traditional areas, projecting the nutritional and food security role of tuber crops, augmenting the utilization prospects by developing value-added food, feed and industrial products, developing demand assessment strategies and exploring new market options, exploring hitherto under-explored areas like developing herbal products with medicinal effects, bio-insecticides, natural food colourants, etc. The effective dissemination of technological advancements can help in a big way to further improve productivity and to unravel the utilization prospects of these crops for the benefit of rural population.