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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Fox nut (Euryale ferox Salisb,) is an important non-cereal staple aquatic food crop, commercially cultivated in Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP) and thereby supports the livelihood of more than 2 million resource poor farmers. Its traditional method of cultivation and post-harvest handling depends on wisdom of the farmers, particularly the fishermen communities. Shrinking water bodies are major threat for sustaining the production potential in traditional methods of cultivation. However, technology has been developed and standardized for cultivation of Fox nut in cropping system mode at 0.30-0.40m shallow depth of water with average productivity of 2.5-3.0 t/ha compared to 1.4-1.6 t/ha in traditional methods of cultivation. After harvest of Fox nut, water chestnut (Trapa natans L.), green fodder/wheat and/or pulses could be cultivated from a same field, thereby, improving the cropping intensity from 100% to more than 200%. Fox nut has been found as a rich source of carbohydrates, protein, energy and nutrients. Popped nuts are also rich in amino acids, particularly glutamic acid, arginine, leucine and valine. Mechanization of cultivation and post-harvest management including diversification in aquatic crops is urgently required for sustainability of fox nut growers.