Sweet potato as a worthy option for rural livelihood: A study on Tribal dominating villages of Jharkhand

Rudrajit Sarkar; Avijit Kr. Dutta

Volume : IV, Issue : VII, July - 2015

Sweet potato as a worthy option for rural livelihood: A study on Tribal dominating villages of Jharkhand

Rudrajit Sarkar, Avijit Kr. Dutta

Abstract :

Subsistence farming based on some specific crops gives free reign to the rural mass, and has ability to create food security options. The storage roots of sweet potato serve as staple food, animal feed, and as a raw material for industries as a starch source. Orange fleshed sweet potato containing more carotenoid content is a major remedy for vitamin A deficiency. In Jharkhand, a few sweet potato growing belts are observed which supply sweet potato to the sweetmeat and peda industries. This study is an endeavour to find out the production and consumption status of sweet potato along with the problems encountered in production. Data was collected directly from sweet potato growing farmers of three villages. As tool, questionnaires, observation, personal interview and group discussion were used. The data were analysed with simple statistical tools. Based on the problems faced by the villagers, some recommendations were made by participatory approach. ABSTRACT KEYWORDS : Sweet potato, subsistenc