Vol. 10, Special Issue 10 (2021)

Author(s):
Sanjana N Joshi and Veena S Jadhav

Abstract:
Tuber is a thickened underground part of stem. Technically a tuber is either a modified stem or modified root, for example sweet potato, potato, cassava and colocasia. In Karnataka, Western Ghats region including Sirsi, Joida and Yallapura talukas of Uttar Kannada district and Mysore district are a treasure trove for these tuber crops. The extraction of starch helps to provide employment to unemployed youths and women in both rural and urban areas. The study was conducted in Uttar Kannada district of Joida during 2019-20. For this study, thirty farmers who were cultivating tuber crops were randomly selected as samples. Survey was carried out with a help of self-structured interview schedule to elicit the required information from the respondents. For measuring the physical properties of tubers, the selected parameters were tuber size, colour, greening, tuber weight, length, width and circumference. The weight of wet starch, dry starch and yield of starch was calculated. For analysis of data, frequency, percentage, and ANOVA were used. The study shows that, around nineteen different tubers were growing by tuber growers in Joida. Appearance of the selected tubers depends on shape of the tubers. Cassava tuber was heavier in weight and length was also high, whereas, sweet potato width was more compared to cassava and Colocasia. Significant difference at 0.01 level was seen between the selected tubers and physical properties. Yield of extracted starch was more in cassava compared to other two tubers. Significant difference was observed at 0.01 level between the types of tubers and wet starch weight, dry starch weight, yield of starch. For analysis of data, frequency, percentage, and ANOVA were used.