Taro - Cultivation

Cultivation

Taro can be grown in paddy fields where water is abundant or in upland situations where watering is supplied by rainfall or by supplemental irrigation. Taro is one of the few crops (along with rice and lotus) that can be grown under flooded conditions. This is possible due to air spaces in the petiole which permit gaseous exchange with the atmosphere under water. For having maximum dissolved oxygen, water should be cool and flowing. Warm and stagnant water causes basal rotting. For maximum yields, the water level should be controlled, so that the base of the plant is always under water. Flooded cultivation has some advantages over the dry-land cultivation. They have higher yields (about double), out-of-season production is possible which might result in higher prices and flooding is good in controlling weeds. On the other hand in flooded production system taro needs a longer maturation period, investment in infrastructure and operational costs are higher, and monoculture is likely. Like most root crops, taro and eddoes do well on deep, moist or even swampy soils where the annual rainfall exceeds 250 cm. Eddoes are more resistant to drought and cold. The crop attains maturity within six to twelve months after planting in dry-land cultivation and after twelve to fifteen months for wetland cultivation. The crop is harvested after a decline in the height and when the leaves turn yellow. The signals are usually less distinct in flooded taro cultivation. Harvesting is usually done by hand tools, even in mechanized production systems. First the soil around the corm is loosened and then the corm is pulled up by grabbing the base of the petioles. The global average yield is 6.2 tones/hectare but vary according to different regions. In Asia, average yields reach 12.6 tones/hectare.