Sisso (Shisham)

Sisso (Shisham)

Botanical name: Dalbergia sisso
Family: Leguminosae
Parts used: Wood (Secondary xylem)

Economic Importance

1. Sisso is a high class furniture and cabinet wood.

2. It is used as a constructional and general purpo
timber used for railway sleepers, musical instruments, shoe heels, hammer handles, tobacco pipes etc.

3. Sisso is good for charcoal making.

4. This wood is used for making of commercial plywood and ornamental veneers.

5. Sisso wood is used for air craft construction.

6. It is durable and heavy wood.

Teak

Teak (Burma, Rangoon Teak, Sagwan)

Botanical name: Tectona grandis
Family: Verbenaceae
Parts used: Wood (Secondary xylem)

Economic Importance

1. It is one of the most famous timbers in the world, being very stable and changing little with fluctuations in temperature and humidity.

2. Teak is extremely durable and hard.

3. It resists decay even when unprotected by paints etc.

4. The characteristic fragrance of the wood is retained for a long period and is the diagnostic feature of this wood.

5. Teak wood is not liable to shrinking, cracking, splitting and it takes a good polish due to presence of resinous matter in pores which resists the action of water.

6. Teak wood is used in making of buildings, furniture, sleepers and many other industrial uses.

7. It is the main railway carriage and wagon wood of India.

8. Teak is used in ship building also.

Potato

Botanical name: Solanum tuberosum

Family: Solanaceae

Parts used: Stem tuber

Economic Importance

1. Potato is one of the important foods of many countries. In India, it is used as the main vegetable throughout the year.

2. Potato is  one of the cheapest source of starchy food. A raw tuber contains 70-80% water, 10-30% carbohydrates (starch), 1-3% proteins, 2-3% fibres, 0.1% fats and small amounts of minerals like potassium, phosphorum, iron and magnesium and vitamin C.

3. Potatoes can be used in many ways directly after boiling, steaming, frying, baking and roasting. It can also be used after processing and products formed are potatoe chips, crisps, potato flour, canned potatoes, dehydrated mashed potatoes.

4. In European countries a large portion of potatoes is fed to livestock.

5. Potatoes are a good substrate for the growth of micro-organisms. Potato broth, which is a liquor obtained from boiled potatoes is a very important nutrient medium for micro organisms.

6. Potatoes are also used in large scale in many industries and processed into starch, alcohols, glucose, lactic acid etc. Starch of potato is used mainly for sizing cloth and paper and for giving finishing to fine cotton products. Dextrins and adhesives are produced from acidified starch.

7. Fresh potatoes are an important source of vitamin B and C.

Sugarcane

Botanical name: Saccharum officinarum

Family: Gramineae (=Poaceae)

Parts used: Stem or canes

Economic Importance

1. Sugar is one of the most valuable products of the plant world obtained from Saccharum species.

2. It is a necessary food for man as it is a perfect food and produces energy.

3. A lot of sugar is used in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, ice-creams, chocolates, confectionary and canning industry.

4. Molasses is an important byproduct of sugarcane industry which is used as livestock feed and for the preparation of rum, industrial alcohol, vinegar, glycerol, lactic acid, citric acid and monosodium glutamate (fluring).

5. Thick noble canes which are soft and have high juice and sugar content and low fibre are chewed throughout the tropics.

6. The molasses is used in cooking, manure and candy making.

8. Bagasse is used as a fuel in sugar mills. It is also used for paper making and as an ingredient of fibre board.

Gram

Gram (Chick-Pea, Bengal gram)

Botanical name: Cicer arietinumFamily: LeguminosaeSub Family: Papilionatae
Parts used: Seeds

Economic Importance

1. Gram is extensively used as a nutritious pulse crop in India.

2. The seeds may be eaten raw, roasted, parched or boiled in split form (daal).

3. Tender leaves are used as leafy vegetable.

4. Gram flour (baisin) along with ghee and sugar us used to make  Indian confectionery.

5. Dry stems and leaves, after threshing, are used as a cattle-feed.

6. Germinated seeds are advised to prevent scurvy.

7. Kabuli grams, which has smooth, white, bigger seeds which are slightly sweetish in taste, is cultivated in North India.

Arhar

Arhar (Cajan Peas or Pigeon Pea)

Botanical name: Cajanus cajan (C. indicus)
Family: Leguminosae
Sub Family: Papilionatae
Parts used: Seeds

Economic Importance: 

1. Arhar is extensively used in the form of split pulse or daal.

2. It is an important food in south India where rice is the staple food grain. The nutritional deficiencies of rice are made upto some extent by the inclusion of pegion pea in the diet. It provides proteins, Vitamin B, Calcium and phosphorus.

3. Sometimes soft, tender and green pods are used as a vegetable.

4. Dried husks and broken pieces of seeds constitute a valuable feed for dairy cattle.

5. The green leaves and top of plants provide excellent fodder and are used as a green manure.

6. Arhar is also grown as a cover crop in plantation.

7. Dried stalks are used as fuel, for making baskits or as a thatching material.

Moong (Green Gram)

Botanical Name: Phaseolus aureus

Family: Leguminosae

Sub Family: Papilionatae

Parts used: Seeds

Economic Importance

1. Moong is an important pulse crop in India and is consumed either whole or split, after decortication.

2. The pulse is easily digestible and is free from heaviness.

3. The young pods and green shelled beans are eaten as vegetable.

4. Bean sprouts are an important nutritious food item. They are eaten either raw or as salad or boiled.

5. In India, the split and dehusked green gram fried in a little oil, after salting is a good snack.

6. The haulms are used as a fodder and the husk and the broken pieces of seeds constitute a useful livestock feed.

7. Parched beans, after the removal of seed coat, are ground into flour which is used in many dishes.

8. Moong is used as a green manure or a restorative crop (being a leguminous crop).