Tonga May Help Make
p. 138 · Read in the full issue
Japan's Sukiyaki
A new crop, grown from a bulb which Tonga's Premier, Prince Tungi, brought back from Tokyo last year, might turn out to be a valuable asset for Tongan growers.
The plant is a tuber which, fully grown, weighs up to 5 lb. In Japan it is called koniaku. Its English name is “devil's tongue".
There is a considerable Japanese market for the crop as it is the important vegetable ingredient in sukiyaki, the national dish. It is also used in making a powerful in dustrial adhesive used in the manu facture of paper and fibre board.
Erratic supplies from the main source of supply—lndonesia—suggest that if it can be grown elsewhere, a good market is assured. A great advantage of the crop is said to be its ability to survive high winds, in cluding hurricanes.