Influences of water management combined with organic mulching on taro plant growth and corm nutrition

Abstract

Taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) is an important food staple in developing countries in Africa, West Indies, the Pacific region, and Southeast Asia. Because taro can be grown in almost all tropical regions of the world, it will play a crucial role in food security. The use of organic mulches, which contribute to soil water management, weed control, and fertilization simultaneously, shows promise as an eco-friendly approach in agronomy. In the present study, a field experiment including two cropping seasons (I and II) was conducted to evaluate the effects of water regimes with organic mulching on the taro growth and corm nutritive values. In results, compared with that under the upland regime, taro cultivation under the flooding regime had a higher level of soil fertility and better weed control. The flooding regime promoted more the taro plant growth and further enhanced the yields of the harvested corms; also, sugarcane bagasse and rice husk would be the superior mulch to obtain better corm attributes. By contrast, cultivation under the upland regime enhanced the nutritive values of taro corm more than did that under the flooding regime. Regardless of the upland or flooded regime, mulching treatments with rice husk could enrich taro corm nutrition more than could those with sugarcane bagasse and peanut hull. Also, the effects of water regime and mulching on taro plant growth and corm attributes would be varied with the rainfalls during the period of vegetative growth.