استمتع بـUnlimited مع Magzter GOLD
احصل على وصول غير محدود إلى أكثر من 9000 مجلة وصحيفة وقصة مميزة مقابل
يحاول ذهب - حر
Potato's Neglected Cousins
February 16, 2019
|Down To Earth
Tubers come in all shapes, sizes and colours, and pack quite a punch
THE HUMBLE potato, a tuberous crop, has come a long way, and in its triumphal march, has sidetracked all other foods to occupy the prime place on our dining tables. But its cousins are not so lucky. The fat and ungainly elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) does not enjoy potato’s wide acceptance. The somewhat spindle-shaped tania (Xanthosoma) is lost amidst colourful veggies piled over it in markets. “Other tubers like cassava (tapioca or Manihot esculenta), taro (Colocasia esculenta) and greater yam (jimikand or Dioscorea alata) share a similar fate,” rues Abdul Nabeel, a farmer from Kozhikode district of Kerala, who grows all these tubers.
There are others like him who share the passion of growing tubers. Shaji N M from Wayanad, Kerala, grows 200 tuber varieties on his 0.80 ha plot. He has earned the sobriquet “The Tuber Man of Kerala” for his enterprise. Shaji also conserves wild tuber varieties that tribals have been gathering from forests for centuries.
هذه القصة من طبعة February 16, 2019 من Down To Earth.
اشترك في Magzter GOLD للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة، وأكثر من 9000 مجلة وصحيفة.
هل أنت مشترك بالفعل؟ تسجيل الدخول
المزيد من القصص من Down To Earth
Down To Earth
THIS CRISIS IS OF OUR MAKING
We are living through catastrophic times that will bring even mighty mountains to their knees
4 mins
September 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Himalaya Wellness Committed to Conserving Biodiversity
Biodiversity is crucial for the sustenance and balance of life.
1 min
September 16, 2025
Down To Earth
PLAN OR PERISH
Rivers that water Punjab were already flowing at capacity due to heavy rain in upstream states, when a record August monsoon made them flood simultaneously. What fuelled the deluge?
30 mins
September 16, 2025
Down To Earth
A SLOW HEALING
Global action is mending the ozone layer, but unregulated short-lived chlorinated emissions by industries are delaying full recovery
3 mins
September 16, 2025
Down To Earth
MELTED LIKE WAX
The Western Himalayas have taken a severe hit this monsoon, as shifting wind patterns fuel extreme weather events across the region.
11 mins
September 16, 2025
Down To Earth
CLOUDS OF CRISIS
The year 2025 will be remembered as one in which normal rainfall masks an abnormal reality of destruction and weather extremes.
5 mins
September 16, 2025
Down To Earth
WESTERN HIMALAYA AT POINT OF NO RETURN?
This monsoon season has been unusually severe for the Western Himalayan region, which has witnessed extreme weather events almost daily. Relentless, intense rainfall and repeated cloudbursts have triggered flash floods, landslides and mudflows, wiping out villages, claiming hundreds of lives, cutting off highways and bringing life to a standstill. DOWN TO EARTH speaks with a climate scientist, geologist, geomorphologist and glaciologist to understand whether the Himalayas have reached a point from which it may be extremely difficult to recover.
8 mins
September 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Rich pickings from orphan drugs
Big Pharma is raking in billions from orphan drugs while India's policies on rare diseases is way behind in protecting patients
4 mins
September 01, 2025
Down To Earth
POD TO PLATE
Lotus seeds are not only tasty, but also a healthy and versatile ingredient to add to diet
3 mins
September 01, 2025
Down To Earth
'We are on mission-driven approach to climate challenges'
Tamil Nadu is tackling its environmental, climate and biodiversity challenges with a series of new initiatives, including the launch of a climate company.
3 mins
September 01, 2025
Translate
Change font size