Thiruvananthapuram: Cholanaikkers, a primitive tribal community who live inside the forest, have always relied on tuber crops for sustenance, but it is leaving them malnourished. While tubers are potential crops which can ensure food security for tribal communities, there are challenges which need to be addressed. The National Conference on Tropical Tuber Crops for the Welfare and Sustenance of Tribal Communities, inaugurated at ICAR-CTCRI on Thursday, explored the possibilities and challenges.
An increased incidence of infertility and a skewed gender ratio among the Cholanaikkers could all be traced back to a toxic substance present in the tubers, said the institute’s Director James George, in his presidential address. CTCRI is now conducting research on the tubers at Nilambur so that they can provide planting materials which produce nutritious, healthy tubers for the Cholanaikkers.
Inaugurating the conference, Shashi Tharoor MP said that India had failed its tribals and the rise of left wing extremism was a consequence of it. He said that while ensuring that edible, nutritious tubers were available to tribal communities, research could also be done to increase the production. The commercial production of surplus crops should be ensured, he said. ICAR Director General T Mohapatra said that CTCRI developed 53 varieties of tubers in 53 years, which was a good number. However he added that it was not enough and they should develop more diverse genotypes to address the needs of productivity, nutrient richness and climate resilience.
