Underutilized Tuber Crops for food, feed and nutritional security in Tripura

Agriculture contributes 26 per cent of the GDP in Tripura of which the major contribution is from horticulture crops like fruits, vegetable, plantation crops and spices etc. The prevailing agro climatic conditions, surplus rainfall, good soil depth and mild acidic pH of the favors the cultivation of tuber crops viz. tapioca, sweet potato, elephant foot yam, greater yam, lesser yam, white yam, taro, swamp taro, giant taro, giant swamp taro and tannia. These crops are considered as the subsidiary food crops in the region for tribal and poor masses because the per capita availability of food grain in this region is low as compare to the national average. On the contrary, these crops play a vital role in food and nutritional security as well as livelihood of some tribal community.

Beside other vegetables, production and consumption of tuber crops need to be increased in Tripura. It would be better if the uplands and foothills of the state are used for raising a variety of tuber crops with improved technology. Cultivation of tuber crops is meager except colocasia, sweet potato and alocasia. Huge genetic diversity has been recorded in yam, elephant foot yam and xanthosoma. The availability of food grains and feed for livestock, poultry and fishery in the state is low as compared to the requirement. Hence, the cultivation of tuber crops will hold good promise in mitigating the feed deficiency for which the technological interventions are necessary to boost the production and productivity of tuber crops and their utility in Tripura.