What are Root and Tuber Crops?
There are approximately 400 vegetable crops (including root and tuber crops) that are commercially cultivated worldwide (Kays and Silva Dias, 1996). The term root and tuber crops is a very general “catch-all” for a wide cross-section of subterranean storage organs of which there are approximately 38 root, 23 tuber, 14 rhizome, 11 corm and 10 bulb crops. Crops with an enlarged pseudostem or stem (e.g., leek, kohlrabi), even when subterranean, are generally not considered within the root and tuber crop category. Likewise, each of the crops included are commercially cultivated and marketed, though in some instances the volume is not great; species that are gathered form the wild are not included. All of the crops are utilized as food though in diverse ways: e.g., as staples, vegetables, sources of industrial products, condiments. Importance of Root and Tuber Crops. Roots and tubers were critical components in the diet during the early evolution of mankind (~ 5 million years ago). The migr
