Tuber crops are important sources of starch after cereals, besides being used as a staple or supplementary food. Being the crops with adaptability to wide range of soil, climate and environment of the tropics and sub tropics and requiring minimum agronomic input and care for growth, they can be very well fitted into the prevailing cropping system. Cassava and sweet potato are the most important among the tuber crops and other tubers are grown as vegetable crops in homestead or semi commercial scale. Tuber crops though branded as poor man’s crops in rural areas, being high source of starch, they have considerable unrealized potential for processing into high end products for food, feed and industrial uses. The perishable nature of tropical tuber crops and the difficulties in long distance transport, storage and marketing constitutes major problems for farmers whose bargaining power is at its lower edge. In order to overcome this problem, in situ processing or value addition near the farm site is recommended which ensure promotion of entrepreneurship at various levels besides ensuring food security by incorporating tuber flour/starch to a certain extent in various food preparations.
ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, a pioneer in the R&D activities of tropical tuber crops evolved a number of value addition technologies suitable for home, farm and industrial front. The Techno-incubation centre is the realisation of the importance of tuber crops in creating and promoting entrepreneurships to enhance the value of these treasures of soil. It is financially supported by Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium, Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Kerala.
Read More: https://www.ctcri.org/techno.php
