ABSTRACT
The South Pacific Commission (SPC) is an advisory and consulting body in Noumea, New Caledonia, founded to promote the welfare of Pacific peoples. Research conducted under the auspices of SPC has led to this overview of root crop storage and processing throughout the South Pacific.
Yam, taro, cassava, sweet potato, arrowroot, and Irish potato are discussed in terms of specific problems associated with each. Yam is cultivated to the greatest extent throughout all the Pacific islands. It has very high prestige, particularly in New Caledonia and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, to the point of undergoing ritualized cultivation in both of those cultures. Taro, also cultivated throughout the Pacific, is difficult to store due to rapid spoilage.
Less widely distributed but no less significant are cassava, which is rising to prominence as part of a new animal feed industry in both Tonga and New Caledonia; sweet potato; arrowroot, used for cooking and for making alcoholic beverages; and the Irish potato.
