Most of the world's poorest smallholders depend on tropical roots and tubers crops as their principal source of food and nutrition. These species produce large quantities of dietary energy and have stable yields under difficult environmental conditions. The most important crops are cassava, sweet potato, yam and the aroids, sharing important common traits such as bulkiness, post-harvest perishability and vegetative propagation. This book compiles the most up to date information on the origin, genetics, physiology, agronomy, pests and diseases and post harvest processing of these crops, while attempting to provide ideas for further research and development.

Author Biography

Vincent Lebot, PhD, started working on tropical root crops in 1981 when teaching agriculture in Vanuatu, South Pacific. He is the scientific coordinator of the Taro Network for Southeast Asia and Oceania (TANSAO) and of SPYN (the South Pacific Yam Network). As a plant breeder with experience in root crops germplasm characterization and evaluation, he specializes in issues related to the genetic improvement of root crops chemotypes and nutritional qualities. He is affiliated with CIRAD (www.cirad.fr) a French institution working for developing countries and has written or co-authored numerous publications on various root crop species. In 2003, he was the recipient of the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration. He is presently coordinating root crops agrobiodiversity research and attempting to find a solution to the sustainable preservation and use of their genetic resources.