Taro
Botanical Name – Colocasia esculenta L. Scott
Family – Araceae
CO 1, Panchamukhi and Satamukhi (Kovvur), Sree Pallavi, Sree Rashmi, Sree Kiran.
Soil –
It comes up well in loamy soils with a pH range of 5.5-7.0 and a combination of warm and moist climate with a mean temperature of 21-27 degree celsius .
Climate –
It can be grown up to 1500 m elevation with well distributed rainfall of about 1000 mm during growth period. In areas
where rainfall is less, a good amount of supplementary irrigation is required for successful production.
Planting Material and Seed Rate
Cormels weighing about 20-25 g form good planting material. Seed rate of 800 kg/ha
is required.
Season
Under rainfed condition, planting during April – June is ideal. June – July and
February – March is ideal. If grown as irrigated crop, it can be raised throughout the year.
Preparation of Field
Plough the field to a fine tilth and form ridges and furrows at a spacing of 45 cm. In
sandy loam soil, pit method is followed. Plant at a spacing of 45 cm in furrows. The cormels
may be planted to a depth of 2.5 to 7.5 cm.
Mulching
Planted seed tubers take 30 to 45 days for sprouting. Mulching helps to hasten
sprouting and control weed growth.
Gap Filling
Under field condtions, 5-10 per cent of the seed tubers fail to sprout. To overcome this situation, about 2000-3000 corms / cormels per hectare may be planted in a nursery at a close spacing so that sprouted tubers from the nursery can be used for gap filling.
Once in a week
Apply 25 tonnes of FYM, 20 kg N, 30 kg P and 60 kg K/ha as basal and 20 kg N, 30kg P and 60 kg K/ha 45 days after planting
After Cultivation
Weeding and earthing up should be done 45 to 60 days after planting. Deep
cultivation should be avoided. Small inefficient suckers from the mother plants have to be
removed along with the second weeding. It requires profuse irrigation and shade.
Crop Protection
1)Aphids
Spray Dimethoate 0.05%.
2)Mealy bugs and scale insects
Dip corms in Dimethoate 0.05% solution for 10 minutes
3)Leaf blight (Phytophthora colocasiae):
Oval or irregular purplish or brownish necrotic lesions with watersoaked periphery appear on leaves. In severe cases, the entire leaf lamina and the petioles are affected giving a blighted appearance and collapse of the plant. Heavy incidence causes up to 50 per cent crop loss.
Use of field resistant varieties viz., Muktakeshi and Jankhri, early planting to avoid heavy monsoon rains, use of healthy planting materials, removal of self-grown colocasia plants, spray with fungicides viz., Mancozeb (0.2%) or metalaxyl+ mancozeb @ 2 g/l of water and treating the seed tubers with biocontrol agents viz., Trichoderma viride
Harvesting
Crop will be ready for harvest in 6-8 months after planting. One month prior to
harvest, all the suckers may be wrapped around the base of the mother plant and covered
with soil by earthing up, for arresting further vegetative growth and sprouting of tubers. After
this, irrigation has to be withheld to hasten maturity. Harvesting is done by carefully
uprooting the plants and the mother corms and cormels are separated
Yield
8 – 10 t/ha in 180 days.
