This chapter describes how people in sago-growing areas are involved with sago, especially in those areas where local people consume sago starch as their staple food, and also describes the cultural and social aspects of sago usage in these areas. Sago is claimed to be one of the oldest crops, and it was the staple foods in large areas of Southeast Asia and Oceania, together with taro and yam, before rice largely replaced these crops. In some areas in Southeast Asia and Oceania, sago is still the staple food, and the sago palm is used not only as a food source but also for various purposes, such as thatching materials. In these areas, sago plays various kinds of social roles as well as being a food. In other areas, such as some places in Malaysia and Indonesia, commercialization of sago starch is practiced, and the starch is processed industrially in factories. Since sago is one of the older crops, it is related to many aspects of people's lives in the sago-growing areas. Having a large number of folk varieties in these areas indicates that sago has a close relationship with people's interests and that it is deeply involved with people's lives. These are shown in mythology, rituals, feasts, and many other human activities. 3

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Sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) is distributed in Southeast Asia and Melanesia, and it produces comparatively high yield of starch (more than 200 kg per plant). This species can grow in wetland swamps where other food crops cannot grow economically and adapt to problem soils such as acid or saline with low input. The Society of Sago Palm Studies and the authors have published books entitled “The Sago Palm: The Food and Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century (Kyoto Univ. Press 2015)” and “Sago Palm: Multiple Contributions to Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods (Springer 2018)”. This paper provides a brief review on (1) characteristics of seed germination and preparation of planting materials utilizing germinated seeds, (2) symbiosis of sago palm and microbes (nitrogen fixing bacteria or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi), (3) creating new value from pith waste after conventional starch extraction (recovery of starch, ethanol production or preparation of biodegradable foam from the waste) and (4) utilization of leaf or bark from our former publications and the achievements published in our journal ‘SAGO PALM’ or the proceedings of the International Sago Symposium to discuss sustainable production and utilization of sago palm resource in Asia and Pacific.

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