Vegetable Crops

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Vegetable Crops PLSC 451/55 Lecture 13, Taro, Yam

• Instructor
• Dr. Stephen L. Love
• Aberdeen R E Center
• 1693 S 2700 W
• Aberdeen, ID 83210
• Phone [phone] Fax [phone]
• Email slove_at_uidaho.edu

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Taro field
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L to R taro, yam, sweet potato, cassava
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Taro

• Also Known As
• Dasheen
• Cocoyam
• Kolocasi
• Ocumo
• Dalo

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Taro plant (Dasheen)
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Taro

• Domestication
• Probably originated in India or Southeast Asia
• Taken to China and Japan - 2000 AD
• Spread to Africa and South Pacific - 500 AD
• Came to the Western Hemisphere with slaves

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Yautia (Taro relative)

• Domestication
• Also called Tannia
• Yautia is a related Arum species and is replacing
  Taro in many African countries
• Native of tropical America
• Species name Xanthosoma sagittifolium
• Very similar in appearance, culture, use

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Taro plant
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Taro corm
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Taro

• Production Climate and soils
• Tropical
• Warm-season, very tender
• Tolerates heavy, clay soils
• Needs abundant water
• Can withstand waterlogged soils
• Optimal pH 6.0-7.0
• Tolerates salty water, quick storm recovery

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Taro

• Production Systems
• Very few large producers
• (Partially mechanized)
• Virtually no organic production
• Most production on subsistence and small market
  farms

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Taro

• Production System - Dryland
• Not ponded
• Irrigated or planted in the dry season
• Often intercropped in subsistence production
• Herbicides commonly employed for weed control

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Taro

• Production System - Wetland
• Ponded or flooded
• Requires cheap, surplus water
• Monoculture
• Herbicides not required

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Taro

• Propagation
• Often propagated from a huli
• Propagules commercially unavailable
• Nurseries co-produced
• Hand-planted or machine assisted

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Taro

• Harvest
• Maturity indicated by leaf drop and yellowing
• Harvest usually by hand
• No post-harvest curing necessary
• Store at 45-50 degrees
• Can be stored for 18 weeks, 2 day shelf-life

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Harvested taro, ready for market
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Major Producing Countries China 1,320
mt Nigeria 1,300 Ghana 1,240 Japan
330 Papua New Guinea 220
Considered to be a staple crop in Africa
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Taro

• Consumer use
• Fresh market
• Boiled or baked
• Processed
• Chips, canned, frozen, dehydrated flour used for
  noodles, cakes and baby food

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Making poi by mashing taro root
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Poi made from taro root
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Taro boiled with fish
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Boiled taro in coconut milk
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Thai desert made from taro, beans, and egg yolks
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Taro

• Taxonomy
• Monocotyledon
• Family Araceae
• Genus and species Colocasia esculenta
• Related species calamus, Jack-in-the-pulpit

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Yam (D. batatas)
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Yam plant
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Yam tubers
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Yam

• Taxonomy
• Monocotyledon
• Family Dioscoraceae
• Genus and species Dioscorea (species)
• Related species 250 species of wild yams

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Yam

• Species used for cultivation
• D. alata (greater yam) SE Asia
• D. batatas (Chinese yam) China
• D. rotunda (yellow yam) Africa
• D. esculenta (lesser yam) SE Asia
• D. bulbifera (aerial yam) Africa
• D. trifida (cush-cush) Tropical America

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SE Asia
Dioscorea alata (Greater yam) most widely
distributed
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Africa
Dioscorea rotunda (Yellow yam) greatest
production
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China
Dioscorea batatas (Chinese yam)
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China
Dioscorea batatas (Chinese yam)
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SE Asia
Dioscorea esculenta (Lesser yam)
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Africa
Dioscorea bulbifera (Aerial yam)
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Tropical America
Dioscorea trifida (Cush-cush yam)
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Major Producing Countries Nigeria 27 mil
mt Ghana 4 Ivory Coast 3 Benin 2
Togo 0.5 Colombia 0.3
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Yam

• Domestication
• Used for food in West Africa (probable area of
  origin) gt50,000 years ago
• Cultivated 3000 BC in West Africa and SE Asia

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Yam

• Use and importance
• Important staple crop in Africa
• Subsistence production systems
• Considered to be an under-utilized crop
• Very high in starch, protein, minerals

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Yam
African peanut and yam soup

• Consumer use
• Fresh market
• Baked, boiled, pounded, fried, dried and ground
  into flour
• (Some types must be heavily processed -boiled,
  pounded and leached - to eliminate alkaloids)

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Yam

• Unusual compounds
• Dioscorine alkaloid in D. hispida and other
  yams, very poisonous (used as a pest poison)
• Sapogenin steroidal alkaloid used in the
  production of cortisone, progesterone, and other
  drugs

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Yam

• Production Climate and soils
• Tropical
• Warm-season, very tender
• Will not grow in temps lt70 degrees
• Needs abundant water
• Requires a well-drained soil

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Yam

• Production
• Propagated using head of tubers from the
  previous crop
• Six mo to 2 yr growing season
• Vines are staked and trained

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Yam

• Production constraints
• Quantity of tubers for seed (30 of production)
• Quantity of labor to plant, stake, and harvest
• Tubers are deep and harvest difficult

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Vanatu vine jumpers
Influence on local culture Celebration of
harvest, rites to invoke success of a new crop
year
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Yam

• Production Diseases and Pests
• Has very few natural pests

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Yam

• Production Harvest and storage
• Mostly hand harvested
• Stored at 55-60 degrees
• Chilling injury at lt50 degrees
• Ventilation essential
• Stored for 6-8 months (ambient)

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Yam storage
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Jerusalem artichoke flower
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Jerusalem artichoke tubers
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Jerusalem Artichoke

• Domestication
• Native of North America found wild in the
  midwest and northeast
• Cultivated by the Indians prior to European
  migration
• Taken to Europe where it is grown in dry climates
• Name derived from Italian girasole articocco
  (sunflower edible)

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Jerusalem Artichoke

• Use and importance
• Similar in appearance and size to Irish potato
• Very limited usage
• Storage carbohydrate in inulin (polymer of
  fructose), useful for diabetics
• Cooked and eaten in similar manner to potato

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Jerusalem Artichoke

• Production
• Production in specialty market gardens
• Planted using tuber pieces
• Planted in fall or very early spring
• Relative easy to grow

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Jerusalem Artichoke

• Production - Misc.
• Volunteers become weedy
• Harvested by hand or machine
• Careful handling necessary if stored
• Store at 32-36 degrees
• Can be stored for several months

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Jerusalem artichoke field