Planning elephant foot yam (suran/oal). I hear some types are itchy (acrid) and some are not. Which variety should I choose and what is the planting material cost like?
For commercial elephant foot yam (suran/oal), the key is to grow a non-acrid (non-itchy) variety, because acrid types are hard to sell for eating. Gajendra is a widely grown non-acrid variety in many states, and CTCRI has released improved types as well (such as the Sree-series). Suran is planted from corm pieces or whole corms, and seed corm is the biggest cost item, often a large share of total cost because you need a fair weight of seed corm per acre. You can reduce cost over time by saving your own seed corms or using cut pieces with a sprout. Confirm the non-acrid variety available locally and current seed corm rates with your KVK, as seed corm price swings a lot by season and region.
Seed corm cost shocked me the first year, it was the bulk of my expense. After that I kept my own seed corms and cut them into pieces with a good bud, which cut costs sharply. Gajendra sells well here in Surat.
Make sure it is the non-itchy type. I once got mixed corms and the acrid ones were almost unsellable. Buyers know the difference.
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