HAYULIANG, Feb 28: A ‘Rainbow diet campaign and tuber crops ethnic food festival’ was organized at the KVK campus here in Anjaw district on Friday by the ICAR’s Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala)-based Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), in collaboration with the Anjaw KVK.
The programme was aimed at promoting tuber crops rainbow diet as a food-based approach to combat Vitamin A deficiency, the KVK informed in a release.
Prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency in Arunachal is about 15 percent among the children below 9 years, it said.
The programme began with students and teachers of the government middle school in Khupa, along with scientists from the KVK and the CTCRI, calling on the residents of Khupa and creating awareness about the tuber crops rainbow diet among the people.
Later, Hayuliang ADC Ayushi Sudan inaugurated the ethnic food exhibition at the venue.
CTCRI principal scientist, Dr P Sethuraman Sivakumar, explained the importance of healthy eating, “especially in one of the remotest districts of the country and a place where transportation and communication is very difficult,” to combat micro-nutrient deficiencies, while Lt Col Rohan Singh of the 222 Artillery urged the scientists and farmers to “commercialize tuber crops as income generation enterprise.”
KVK Head (in-charge) Dr Santosh Kumar and the Hayuliang assistant agriculture director also spoke.
CTCRI scientists Drs AVV Koundinya, H Kesava Kumar and Venkatraman Bansode delivered lectures on improved varieties of tropical tuber crops, integrated pest management of tuber crops, and processing and value addition to tuber crops.
Value-added products such as chips, pasta and noodles were displayed in the stalls and served to the visitors for sensory evaluation, and their feedback was taken via questionnaires.
Twelve stalls were set up by different SHGs, farmers and FPCs at the food exhibition.
