Future climate suitability of underutilized tropical tuber crops-‘Aroids’ in India

Abstract

Elephant foot yam and taro are the two important aroids of tropical tuber crops, considered as underutilized in the context of climate change and food security. The present study focused to quantify the future climate suitability of aroids for future climate scenarios 2030, 2050, and 2070 for the two representative concentration pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). The district-wise future climate suitability of elephant foot yam and taro using MaxEnt across India was quantified. The percentage increase in climatically suitable area for taro is 49% and the same for elephant foot yam is 46% which is higher compared to those of tropical root crops. A total of 218 districts were identified as highly suitable for the cultivation of elephant foot yam for different RCPs across India. A total of 209 districts were observed as highly suitable for taro cultivation across India for the two RCPs. The information about the districtlevel suitability can assist decision-makers to understand the possible shifts in the climate suitability of aroids in India in the context of food security as they have higher productivity compared to other major food grain crops.

Keywords

• Elephant foot yam
• taro
• aroids
• climate change
• food security
• climate suitability