Mysuru: Roots and tuber crops that include potatoes, taro, cassava, sweet potatoes, yams are cultivated staple energy sources, only second to cereals. They favourably adapt to diverse soil and environmental conditions and a variety of farming systems. As the potato, eclipsed all its other cousins, particularly in cities, the consumption of tubers got restricted to tribes. It’s time we should move beyond the potato, which is vulnerable to pests and diseases and also requires more investment and attention. Tubers are hardy, and have a longer shelf-life.
Nutritionally, roots and tubers have a great potential to provide economical sources of dietary energy in the form of carbohydrates. The energy from tubers is about one-third of that of an equivalent weight of rice or wheat due to high moisture content of tubers.
