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Taro. A group of tuberous-rooted edible aroids, of the genus Colocasia, scattered throughout the tropics and subtropics of the world; cultivated also in many warm regions of the temperate zones, as Egypt, Syria, China, Japan, and New Zealand, and latterly in the southern United States.

Taro. A group of tuberous-rooted edible aroids, of the genus Colocasia, scattered throughout the tropics and subtropics of the world; cultivated also in many warm regions of the temperate zones, as Egypt, Syria, China, Japan, and New Zealand, and latterly in the southern United States.

The taro has been cultivated from very early times and the Egyptian variety, under the name "colocasia," is mentioned by Pliny as being of great importance in Egypt at that time. The culture of it was said to have been already introduced into Italy. The Egyptian variety, now called qolqas, is Colocasia antiquorum (Arum Colocasia), Fig. 3775, a quite different plant from that of the varieties most commonly grown in southeastern Asia and the islands of the Pacific. The qolqas is of very inferior quality and is said to be eaten in Egypt only by the laboring classes.

The taro has been cultivated from very early times and the Egyptian variety, under the name "colocasia," is mentioned by Pliny as being of great importance in Egypt at that time. The culture of it was said to have been already introduced into Italy. The Egyptian variety, now called qolqas, is Colocasia antiquorum (Arum Colocasia), Fig. 3775, a quite different plant from that of the varieties most commonly grown in southeastern Asia and the islands of the Pacific. The qolqas is of very inferior quality and is said to be eaten in Egypt only by the laboring classes.

The botany of the taros of the Pacific regions is in an unsatisfactory state, owing largely to the infrequency with which many varieties flower, but most of them evidently belong to Colocasia esculenta (by some considered to be a variety of C. antiquorum and so treated in Vol. II, page 830). See Fig. 3776.

The botany of the taros of the Pacific regions is in an unsatisfactory state, owing largely to the infrequency with which many varieties flower, but most of them evidently belong to Colocasia esculenta (by some considered to be a variety of C. antiquorum).

The culture of taro has probably reached its highest development in the Hawaiian Islands and it is largely through its extensive use there that the plant has become so widely known among travelers and others. The large number of varieties despite the fact that the plants seldom, if ever, set seed, testifies to the antiquity of the culture of this type of taro. MacCaughey and Emerson, in the Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist (vols. 10, 11, 1913-1914). record a list of 262 named varieties of taro, or "kalo," which are said to have been grown on the islands. But few of these are of commercial importance, and many are no doubt lost.

The culture of taro has probably reached its highest development in the Hawaiian Islands and it is largely through its extensive use there that the plant has become so widely known among travelers and others. The large number of varieties despite the fact that the plants seldom, if ever, set seed, testifies to the antiquity of the culture of this type of taro. MacCaughey and Emerson, in the Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist (vols. 10, 11, 1913-1914). record a list of 262 named varieties of taro, or "kalo," which are said to have been grown on the islands. But few of these are of commercial importance, and many are no doubt lost.

The crop matures in late October and early November in the southern United States. Harvesting is performed with a spade or with team and plow. Dasheens keep well when properly handled and stored. The entire subject is treated at length in bulletins of the United States Department of Agriculture.

The crop matures in late October and early November in the southern United States. Harvesting is performed with a spade or with team and plow. Dasheens keep well when properly handled and stored. The entire subject is treated at length in bulletins of the United States Department of Agriculture.

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==Cultivation==

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| image_width = 200px| regnum = [[Plant]]ae

| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]

| classis = [[Liliopsida]]

 

 

 

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|colspan=2|''Source: <br>[[UN Food & Agriculture Organisation]] (FAO)''[http://faostat.fao.org/faostat/form?collection=Production.Crops.Primary&Domain=Production&servlet=1&hasbulk=0&version=ext&language=EN]

 

 

Taro can be grown in [[paddy field]]s or in upland situations where watering is supplied by rainfall or by supplemental irrigation. Some varieties of taro can also be grown away from the tropics, in places such as [[Korea]] and [[Japan]]. In Korea, taro is called ''toran'' (토란) meaning "egg from earth", and the corm is stewed and the leaf stem is stir-fried. The taro corm is called'''sato-imo'' (里芋) in Japanese and [[supermarket]] varieties range from about the size and shape of a [[brussels sprout]] to longer, larger varieties the size of an adult male's fist.

 

Taro is extensively used in [[South Asia]]. In [[South India]]'s [[Kerala]] state, it is used as a staple food, as a side dish, or as a component in various side dishes. As a staple food it is steamed, and eaten with a chutney of green pepper and shallot onions. The leaves and stems of certain varieties of taro are used as a vegetable in Kerala. A tree-growing variety of taro is extensively used in the western coast of India to make "patrade" or "patrada", literally "leaf-pancake". These are either made like fritters, or are steamed and eaten. Taro is consumed in most of the regions of South Asia. It is called ''chembu'' in [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], ''arvi'' in [[Hindi language|Hindi]], ''kesu'' or ''kesuvinagadde'' in [[Kannada language|Kannada]], ''aalu'' (अळू) or ''arukudya'' in [[Marathi language|Marathi]], ''alvamande'' in [[Konkani language|Konkani]], ''chamagadda'' or ''chamadumpa'' in [[Telugu language|Telugu]], ''chembu'' or ''cheppankizhangu'' in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], ''saruwada'' in [[Oriya language|Oriya]], and ''kochu'' in [[Bengali language|Bengali]]. Taro is so widely available in [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]] that its Bengali name ''kochu'' can also mean "worthless thing" or "nothing" in sayings.

 

Taro chips are often used as a potato chip-like snack. Compared to potato chips, taro chips are harder and have a more assertive nutty flavor.  They are generally made from upland taro because of their lower moisture content.

 

Typical dryland or upland varieties (varieties grown in watered but not flooded fields) in Hawaii are ''lehua maoli'' and '''bun long''', the latter widely known as Chinese taro. ''Bun long'' is used for making taro chips. ''Dasheen'' (also called "eddo") is another "dryland" variety of ''C. esculenta'' grown for its edible corms or sometimes just as an ornamental plant. 

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The Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service puts the 10-year median production of taro in the Hawaiian Islands at about 6.1 million pounds (2,800 t; Viotti, 2004).  However, 2003 taro production in Hawaii was only 5 million pounds (2,300 t), an all-time low (record keeping started in 1946). The previous low, reached in 1997, was 5.5 million pounds (2,500 t). Yet, despite generally growing demand, production was even lower in 2005: only 4 million pounds, with ''kalo'' for processing into ''poi'' accounting for 97.5% (Hao, 2006).  Urbanization has driven down harvests from a high of 14.1 million pounds (6,400 t) in 1948. But more recently the decline has resulted from pests and diseases. A non-native [[Ampullariidae|apple snail]] (''Pomacea canaliculata'') is a major culprit in the current crop declines. Also, a plant rot disease, traced to a newly identified species of the [[Fungus|fungal]] genus, ''[[Phytophthora]]'', now plagues crops throughout the state. Although pesticides could control both pests to some extent, pesticide use in the pondfields is barred because of the clear opportunity for chemicals to quickly migrate into streams and then into the ocean (Viotti, 2004; Hao, 2006).

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== Taro production in Fiji ==

==Species==

Although taro has been a staple of the indigenous Fijian diet for centuries, its growth as a commercial  crop can be said to have begun in 1993 when the taro leaf blight decimated the taro industry in neighboring Samoa. Fiji filled the void and was soon supplying taro to the large Polynesian populations of New Zealand, Australia, and Los Angeles in the United States.

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Almost 80% of Fiji's exported taro comes from the Island of Taveuni.

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Currently, the Taro industry is under threat from the taro beetle, with the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) conducting research into how best to control this pest.  

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==See also==

==References==

*[[Aquatic plants]]

*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

== References ==

==External links==

*{{wplink}}

* Wagner, W. L., D. R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer. 1999. ''Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai‘i. Revised edition''. Vol. 2. Univ. of Hawei‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press. p. 1357.

{{commons|Colocasia esculenta}}

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[[Category:Araceae]]

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