Tuber and root crops are the third important group of food crops after cereals and pulses, feeding about one fifth of the world population. With the burgeoning population coupled with limited land, water and other resources, the future beckons tuber and root crops in fulfilling the country’s food requirements. These crops have higher biological efficiency and greater adoption with profound production potential per unit area per unit time. Tuber and root crops are well known from time immemorial as nature’s energy bank and famine saviour. This book is conceived to have an updated version on the tuber and root crops especially in the Indian context, including information on the history, biodiversity, geographical distribution, botany, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical values, new varieties, production technologies, IPM strategies, starches, post harvest technologies and value added products, bio-processing, biotechnology, ITK and future thrusts. Various aspects of cassava, sweet potato, elephant foot yam, taro, yams, coleus, yam bean and arrow root are elucidated in 17 chapters and appendices. This book will be of immense use to the policy makers, scientists, post graduate and under graduate students and officials concerned with tuber and root crops research, development and extension.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR K V Peter
Prof. K.V. Peter , Ph.D, is Former VC of KAU in Trichur, India and Coordinator of the Department of Biotechnology (GOI) funded projects on plantation crops and spices. Prof. Peter is a horticulturist, a plant breeder and an acknowledged research manager. He is the former Director for the Indian Institute of Spices Research, Calicut (ICAR) and former Professor and Director of Research, KAU. Professor Peter is the editor of seven books and author or co-author of thirteen books/bulletins and 132 research papers. The ICAR conferred on Prof. Peter the Rafi Ahamed Kidwai Prize, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences awarded the Recognition Award 1999 for contributions to crop improvement, and the University of Agricultural Sciences conferred the M.H. Marygowda Award for being the Best Horticultural Scientist. Prof. Peter is the Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR M.S. Palaniswami
M.S. Palaniswami an agricultural scientist, started his career in TNAU in June 1975 and entered into ICAR through agricultural research service at Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Trivandrum in September 1977. He was Principal Scientist and Head, Division of Crop Protection, CTCRI during 1997-2003. He was the Project Co-ordinator of All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Tuber Crops since September, 2003. He was the principal investigator for an APCESS fund scheme (ICAR) and a world bank funded NATP-CGP project on Cylas formicaruius and for an international project (United States Department of Agriculture - United States - India Fund) on Bemisia tabaci whitefly (for which he was awarded certificate of appreciation by the USDA, Washington) and for a BARC collaborative project. He visited Central International Agriculture Tropical, Cali, Colombia; European Biological Control Laboratory, Montpellier, France; Western Cotton Research Laboratory, Phoenix, USA and Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute, Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia. He was invited to the whitefly meetings at San Diego, California, USA in 1997, 2000, 2002, and 2003 and at Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA in 1999. he was also invited for the cassava biotechnology network meeting at Cali, Colombia in March 2004 and for the second international meetings on Sweet Potato and Cassava at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June 2005. Sex pheromone, kairomone and bio-control agents for sweet potato weevil management; biotypes of B. tabaci whitefly and its role as vector of ICMV; and the parasitoids, pest resistant genotypes, ecology and management of major pests and Indian cassava mosaic virus and B. tabaci vector relations are his noteworthy contributions biologically based IPM for sweet potato weevil and cassava pests and taro pests have been recommended and adopted by root and tuber growers. He has catalogued important pests and diseases of economic and exotic nature for quarantine purpose. In collaboration with BARC, Mumbai developed low cost but highly effective sex pheromone lure for mass trapping of Sweet Potato weevils. As the Project Co-ordinator of AICRP on Tuber Crops, 27 varieties of cassava, sweet potato, taro, bunda and yams could be identified and recommended with production and protection technologies for adoption in nine states of India. More than 150 research papers in international and national journals, many chapters in books, 16 technical bulletins and four annual reports and technical reports are to his credit. He is the Vice President of Association for Advancement of Entomology (AAE) and editorial member of Entomon Journal. Life member of Indian Society for Root Crops, Association for Advancement of IPM in Horticultural Eco-system and Indian Society for Vegetable Science. Edited Journal of "Root Crops" 16 issues as the editor as well as the chied editor during 1988-1996. Participated International and National Symposia / Meetings / Workshops / Agricultural Science Congress and acted as chairman / co-chairman of many sessions. He authored/edited the following books: Tropical Tuber Crops (1990): Special issues of Indian Society for Root Crops; Tropical Tuber Crops (1996) Oxford & IBH, New Delhi and Advances in Entomology (2001), AAE, Trivandrum.
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