Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Three varieties of Colocasia taro namely Dungersuul, Dirrubong, Kirang were identified as salt tolerant in one of the research trials carried out in Ngimis, Ngatpang in Palau with funding support provided by the AusAID International Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (ICCAI) through the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).
The research is led by Dr Aurora Del Rosario, Researcher/Extension Specialist of the Palau Community Colleges Cooperative Research and Extension (PCCCRE) in Koror, in collaboration with Palau Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism (MNRET) and SPC through its Genetic Resources Team of the Land Resources Division.
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Taro is an important staple food crop in the Pacific and has been for thousands of years. Although taro is increasingly being replaced in the diet by imported products, it remains a treasured food with many different uses. It is also very nutritious and is an important part of a healthy diet.
This leaflet was published by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. It describes the varieties of taro found in the Pacific, table of nutrient content, nutritional benefits of taro, cooking methods, storage and preservation, some recipes alongside nicely illustrated pictures of taro.
Source: ACIAR
Taro (Colocasia esculente), which is a major food crop in the South Pacific, is subject to significant losses from pests and diseases. TaroPest has been developed as a guide to the pests and diseases of taro in the South Pacific.
TaroPest: An illustrated guide to pests and diseases of taro in the South Pacific
The illustrated guide to pests and diseases of taro in the South Pacific was written and produced in 2008 by ACIAR researchers, building on from the earlier TaroPest project (2004) and many similar programmes.
The guide contains factsheets and more importantly 'Identification Keys' to help users with pest and disease identification and diagnosis. The factsheets of taro pests and diseases are categorised under five headings: Bacteria, Fungi, Insects, Nematodes, Snails, Viruses.
This guide was designed to be used on-site to provide in-field diagnosis. There is an CD-ROM where there are more diagnostic images and text but unfortunately the link provided contains the download to the guide only.
Authors:
Hidelisa D. de Chavez, Roland M. Atanante, Maria Lea H. Villavicencio, Michelle Lyka V. Descalsota, Jonathan C. Descalsota, Richard T. Hermoso and Michelle L. Moldez
Oriental Mindoro is one of largest suppliers of taro in the Philippines and behind this are great women who are true pillars of strength in taro production who seek ways to make the industry more sustainable, profitable, mutually beneficial and culturally inclusive.
They say that taro like any other rootcrop is a woman's crop. Three women of Oriental Mindoro are featured here to highlight the important roles that they play in the production and marketing of this crop.
Mrs. Ana Renee Manrique is the General Manager of DryTech Manufacturing Inc. based in Centro Biga, Calapan City. Her company produces dried taro leaves sourced from Oriental Mindoro. She has 11 staff working for DryTech factory and 20 agents supplying her fresh taro leaves. Her company can produce approximately 1.5 tons of taro leaves per year. She supplies taro leaves to selected supermarket outlets and restaurants serving taro dishes. She markets the dried taro leaves as pesticide-free products. Mrs. Manrique exports her products to Australia and parts of the Middle East among others. Her company participated in trade fairs, exhibits and market conventions where she was able to find markets for her products particularly for clients from abroad. She is pushing into the establishment of a taro farmers’ cooperative which she temporarily named Bayanihan ng Maggagabi ng Mindoro (Community of Taro Farmers in Mindoro) to help farmers to be more competitive. She hopes that concerned Philippine government agencies will support taro farmers particularly in storage, sorting, packaging, and occupational safety and health.
Mrs. Larissa Posas of San Teodoro has a 10-year experience as a taro farmer and entrepreneur. She started as an agent for a local taro supplier. She supplies fresh taro leaves to DryTech Manufacturing Inc. in Calapan City and dried taro leaves to another factory in Cavite. She has 20 agents/gatherers (many of whom belong to the Mangyan tribe) in San Teodoro who supply good quality and disease-free taro leaves. The gatherers obtain leaves of wild taro plants from natural stands in sloping areas, river banks and pasture areas far from ricelands because these are free from fertilizers and pesticides. She can readily assemble and sell 100 kilograms of fresh taro leaves for small orders daily. She can supply a minimum of 1,000 kilograms of fresh taro leaves during regular season up to 3,000 kilograms during peak season for bulk orders. Annually, her taro leaves are being tested for pesticide residues to be able to pass the organic certification required by her clients. Larissa is trying to organize taro farmers to form an association to be able to gain access to government support services like drying machines. This will greatly help them to be able to dry taro leaves during the rainy season when supply of taro leaves is very low and the demand is high thus, making dried taro leaves more profitable. This will also lessen spoilage during transport of fresh taro leaves. Taro is very important according to Larissa because it is a sustainable livelihood. It is a livelihood that you can pass on to younger generations. Taro production will be sustainable according to Larissa as long as young unfurled leaves (shoots) are left in the field.
Mrs. Naty Inan is a 40-year old farmer and entrepreneur who has 25 year-experience as a taro farmer and entrepreneur. She has 3 workers in her taro farm which is approximately 2 hectares in Hills of Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro. Aside from her own taro produce, she procures taro from approximately 50 farmers and sells these in Bongabong and Roxas through house-to-house mode of selling. She also sells other root crops like ginger, cassava, yam and cocoyam (variety 'Singapore'). She sells taro in bundles (5-6 plants per bundle) which costs around 1-1.5 USD. Her customers prefer four varieties of taro. First, the Bahian variety, a Mangyan variety with dark or deep purple petioles, named after the Mangyan tribe where she is affiliated with. Second, the China variety. Third, the Green variety with green petioles and fourth, the Puti or Binting Dalaga with white (very light green) petioles. She shared what her parents told her as to the importance of taro in Mangyan culture and people of Mindoro as a whole: "Kung wala nang gabi, wala na ring tao" (If taro vanish, man also vanish). This is because according to her parents, when calamities strike like strong typhoons which frequently hit the province, the only standing crop left is taro for people to feed on to survive.
Authors:
Hidelisa D. de Chavez, Roland M. Atanante, Maria Lea H. Villavicencio, Michelle Lyka V. Descalsota, Jonathan C. Descalsolta, Richard T. Hermoso and Michelle L. Moldez
Albay
Free-flowing water in unbunded lowland taro production system for fresh leaves and petioles
Growing along the path of spring, cool waters flowing freely from Mayon Volcano, are green and healthy taro or 'natong' as locals call it. Taro is being cultivated throughout Albay but major growing municipalities and cities include Legazpi City, Daraga, Camalig, and Tabaco City. Albay farmers are very proud of their taro varieties having the best eating quality compared to taro varieties from other areas because these are grown in cool and clean spring water flowing throughout the year.
The barangay of Budiao in Daraga is very famous for its taro variety called Inoroon. According to the locals, the petioles and leaves of this variety are very tender when cooked. In Legazpi City, they have a variety called Duguan (means bloody) because when the petioles are cut, the sap immediately turns to red after a few seconds. Farmers do not use fertilizer since they believe that the soil is very fertile and the flowing water is very clean. These are volcanic soils favorable for the growth of root crops like taro. Since their taro are always healthy, they do not apply pesticides. They just manually remove petioles and leaves which appear as diseased or infested with aphids.
When pinangat and laing are mentioned, these are almost synonymous with the Bicol Region culture as a whole. Pinangat is a native dish made of whole taro leaves wrapped in layers then cooked in coconut cream. Laing, is also a native dish made of fresh or dried taro leaves with or without petioles (stalks) cooked in coconut cream. To complete the Bicolano stamp, hot chillies are added to these taro dishes.
Majority of restaurants in Albay serve pinangat and laing. Shops sell freshly cooked or frozen pinangat along Camalig national highway for locals and tourists alike. Frozen pinangat made its way to the export market catering many Filipinos working outside the Philippines. These products became a major source of livelihood for many people in Albay.
Camarines Sur
Bunded taro lowland production system for dried taro leaves
Over large tract of lands planted to lowland rice in Nabua, Bula and Pili in the province of Camarines Sur, one will not surely miss paddies planted to taro or natong in the Bicolano dialect. The province supplies dried taro leaves not only in the Bicol region but also in Metro Manila and the neighboring provinces of Pampanga, Rizal, Bulacan, Laguna among others. One of the major suppliers of dried taro leaves in Camarines Sur is the Nabua Gabi Farmers Association (NaGFA) based in the municipality of Nabua.
Eighty two charter farmers established NaGFA in 2014 with the goal of consolidating the taro production and marketing in the municipality of Nabua. In 2017, when Mr. Saldy Castillo started his term as the president of the association, he brought major changes in the taro production, management and processing. The NaGFA was awarded with a processing facility, a truck and solar dryers by the Department of Agriculture.
With the help of the association, member farmers currently supply 800-1,000 kilograms of dried taro leaves to its buyers almost everyday. Aside from taro coming from Nabua, their supply of taro leaves come from other municipalities in Camarines Sur like Pili and Camaligan. Their markets also expanded to as far as Metropolitan Manila and neighboring provinces like Rizal, Cavite and Laguna to name a few. These expansions in the supply and demand side ensure the sustainability of their operations.
General Trias, Cavite
From rice to taro production system for fresh taro leaves, petioles and corms
General Trias, in the province of Cavite, used to be a major rice producing area but recently, a large parcel of these areas were converted to taro production. This transformation was influenced by different factors. First, many lands were converted to residential subdivisions, thus water is not favorable anymore for rice production according to survey respondents. Taro production areas can be found at the borders of subdivisions. Second, migrants from the Bicol region taught the local Caviteños how to grow taro. The Bicol region is famous for taro as they produce two of the most famous taro native dishes pinangat and laing. Third, these Bicolanos who taught them how to grow taro also buy and sell their produce thus, providing them a ready market.
Fourth, Gen. Trias is nearer to big urban markets in the National Capital Region like Pasay, Bicutan and Manila compared to other taro-producing areas. They also supply local big trading posts (bagsakan), like the Kadiwa market, in Dasmarinas, Cavite. Fresh taro petioles, leaves and corms are sold along the national highways in stalls. Fifth, taro runners are gathered weekly which provide them cash for their daily household needs compared to rice where they have to wait for four months before they can harvest. Sixth, taro production is similar to rice production in that they are both planted in lowland (submerged) condition in linear fashion enclosed in plots but taro requires less water than rice. Seventh, taro also requires lesser inputs like fertilizers and pesticides compared to rice thus, lesser capital. Lastly, the presence of enterprising Caviteño who saw the opportunity of earning more income. With these favorable conditions, one will expect that more lands will be converted to taro in the coming years.
Source: Plantwise
To help with the identification and diagnosis of possible pests and diseases of taro, use CABI's Pest Identification Tool on the Plantwise Knowledge Bank site. Equipped with simple selection tools to narrow down possible pests and diseases, there are images and factsheets providing information on distribution, symptoms, prevention/control and many more.
Start here:
Pest Identification Tool
Source: ACIAR
Taro is the most commonly grown vegetable crop in Samoa, eaten as both flesh and leaves and processed into flour. Taro leaf blight (TLB) is primarily a leaf disease which is capable of totally destroying the canopies of susceptible plants.
This Small Research Activity (SRA) funded study completed in May 2019 has provided new information on how long Phytophthora colocasiae (causal agent of TLB) can survive on taro corms.
By adopting a systems approach to producing, harvesting and handling taro, Samoan farmers could reduce the risk of corm infection to negligible levels.This includes only using varieties that are tolerant to TLB; reducing the sources of infection by regularly removing affected taro leaves; harvesting for export only during dry weather; and preliminary washing and cleaning of taro in an area that’s remote from plantations and any infected crops.
Source: ACIAR
The aim of this project has been to understand the impact of climate change on key Pacific production systems - specifically those based on the staple root crops, taro and cassava.
This project used an APSIM modelling framework to develop crop modules to understand how specific taro and cassava varieties respond to projected changes in climate in the Pacific, and to identify strategies for farming systems adaptation.
Source: CABI
This programme, implemented by CABI, aims to build resilience of communities in selected villages in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to pests and diseases and their management in the face of climate change.
The interventions feature innovative participatory and climate-adaptive agricultural practices to enrich and restore agro-ecosystem health, manage crop pests and diseases, and improve livelihoods.
There could be lessons learned from this project that could be used to improve the resilience of taro growers to climate change.
Source: New Phytologist Foundation
There is an interesting opinion piece on possible reasons and contributing factors to taro being an "orphan crop" (crops which are typically not traded internationally but plays an important role in food security, Falcon et al. 2017).
The article examines why this perception gap exists and offers some insights into how feedback loops can create and reinforce these perception gaps leading to taro being under-utilised, underfunded and under-researched.
Source: CABI
Visit CABI's Invasive Species Compendium page on taro where there is extensive information on taxonomy, distribution, description, biology and ecology, habitat, uses, means of movement and dispersal, environmental impact, prevention and control, images...etc
The link to the Colocasia esculenta datasheet can be found here:
Source: Bioversity International
"Due to the ease with which it adapts to diverse farming systems and food cultures, taro has played a central role in the evolution of agro-ecosystems in many countries, and has helped maintain food security in continuously-evolving rice production systems. As in other crops, genetic diversity in taro has facilitated evolution of the crop. Scientific understanding of taro’s genetic diversity and management will further facilitate its use in providing global food security. We welcome this volume as an important step in this direction, particularly for the way it highlights the global benefits that taro can provide in times of change."
Excerpt of foreword by Masa Iwanaga, Director General, National Institute of Crop Science, Japan
There is a section on taro collection and conservation in the Pacific region and other topics (characterisation, collections, genetic diversity, mass propagation) which are very relevant to the project.
The articles are available for download through the links below:
Source: Media Indonesia
[Translated from Bahasa Indonesia]
Efforts to diversify food with a variety of carbohydrate-producing plants need to be developed to support national food security, especially in facing the impacts of climate change. This was emphasized by Prof. Dr. Edi Santosa, Professor of IPB University from the Faculty of Agriculture.Currently, Prof. Edi has joined up with the Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Philippines, Fiji and funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through the International Center of Agriculture and Bioscience (CAB) to be part of a taro consortium investigating the use of taro as food security in the face of climate change.
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