Potato took Gujarat route to India
PALANPUR:
Potato fries and chips are surely a hot favourite with the foodies of
the country. But very few are aware of the fact that this tuber was
first tasted by Gujarat as it entered India through Surat. It was called
bateka by Gujaratis, a name that continues even today.
A well-known historian and former dean of law faculty at Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University (HNGU) Mukund Brahmkshatriya said, "It was in beginning of 17th century that Sir Thomas Roe
A well-known historian and former dean of law faculty at Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University (HNGU) Mukund Brahmkshatriya said, "It was in beginning of 17th century that Sir Thomas Roe
landed at Surat
as an ambassador of King James I
to
the court of the Mughal emperor Jahangir.
When he left for Delhi he
obviously left behind the ship that carried potatoes that were
distributed among the labourers as it was feared that they would rot."
The East India Company established its first warehouses in Surat in
1612.
Brahmkshatriya said, "Potato being a nonperishable tuber usually lasting for long was preferred by the mariners."
"Potato was a South American tuber that had later come to Europe," research director at Krushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University (SDAU) R M Chauhan said.
Today, Gujarat with its famous Deesa potatoes
,
ranks fifth in the country in potato production. The
cultivation began after the British allotted land in Deesa on the banks
of river Banas. "Today, Deesa is one of the highest potato growing
centres in the state accounting for more than 50 per cent of total
production coming from Banaskantha district," scientist Narendra Singh
at potato research station in Deesa attached to SDAU said.
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