The versatile potato
Potato was a wild tuber from Chilean cost which went on to become world’s fourth most important food crop. On its journey to prominence, it got closely associated with the rise of civilizations, revolutions, wars and famines. At present it is cultivated in all continents and regarded as a staple food item of rich and …
Rice- A grain that feeds the world
History of rice, a staple food of one half of the global population, is closely entwined with the history of human kind itself. It is cultivated in 112 countries and contains more than 40,000 varieties with unique characteristics. Rice is evolved from the plant Oryza Sativa, a member of the grass family widely …
Maize- The Source of Life
The origin of the word ‘maize’ is believed to be from Taino people of Northern Antilles(present day San Salvador). They called the grain ‘mahis’ which meant ‘source of life’. Maize is also called ‘corn’, an Indo-European word which means ‘small nugget’.It is domesticated from a wild grass named teosinte by natives of western Sierra Madre …
Amaranth – A Himalayan & Andes Treasure
The word ‘Amaranth’ is derived from the greek term ‘amarantos’ meaning ‘unwithering’. The term was applied to Amaranth for its hearty characteristics that for the people that used it, came to symbolize immortality. The Hindi term for Amaranth, Ramdana, means God’s own grain. This bountiful seed is grown all throughout India from the high slopes of …