Taro ( Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) is a root crop widely grown in the Tropics. To determine the optimum plot size for taro field trials, fresh and dry weights of individual corms were collected from two field trials conducted under flooded culture and two conducted under upland culture. For a given maximum test plot with a single border row surrounding inner measured plants, all possible combinations of smaller plot sizes were investigated. A plot size was defined as a given number of adjacent plants. A strong linear relationship was found between the natural logarithm of variance of yield and the natural logarithm of plot size. Expressed on the non-log-transformed scale, the point of maximum curvature in this relationship indicates a sudden decrease in advantage to larger plot sizes and is taken as optimum. Calculating maximum curvature mathematically, optimum plot size was 21 inner plants (5.7 m 2 ) for the second flooded trial and 18 inner plants (4.9 m 2 ) for the second upland trial. Another method of estimating optimum plot size minimized the cost per unit of research data by using the index of degree of correlation between neighboring plots. In three of four trials, the optimum plot size ranged from 16 to 24 inner plants (4.3 to 6.5 m 2 ). In this second method, we calculated a non-linear relationship between plot size and outer border plants to estimate the fixed and per-unit cost of a single border row surrounding the inner measured plants. Both methods of calculating optimal plot size sometimes resulted in estimates that exceeded the maximum test plot size for particular field trials, indicating limitations of each method and the importance of managing field trials to ensure uniformity across treatments. No evidence of spatial autocorrelation was found in the corm yield of taro, indicating that the two methods used were adequate in calculating optimum plot size. In addition, we conducted an analysis based on statistical power but found that plot size did not materially affect the power to detect differences between treatments. To our knowledge, this is the first report of optimum plot size for field trials of taro.
To determine the potential to suppress root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica , 10 genotypes of seven green manure species were evaluated in a greenhouse study. These species were: black hollyhock ( Alcea rosea L.); canola ( Brassica napus L.); cabbage (B. oleracea L. ) ; French marigold ( Tagetes patula L.), sorghum–sudangrass [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench nothosubsp. drummondii (Steud.) de Wet ex Davidse]; sunn hemp ( Crotalaria juncea L.); and yellow mustard ( Sinapis alba L.). Plants were inoculated with eggs of M. javanica and after 6 weeks, nematode eggs and reproduction factor (Rf = final egg population density/initial egg population density) were determined. Marigolds were non-hosts to M. javanica ; other crop species that were poor hosts to M. javanica included canola cv. Dwarf Essex, sorghum–sudangrass cvs. Piper and Sordan 79, black hollyhock cv. Nigra, and sunn hemp. Based on low Rf, four groups of species were selected for further evaluation in the greenhouse to determine the response to both M. javanica and another crop pathogen, Pythium aphanidermatum . These four groups of green manure crops were: 1) seven marigold genotypes; 2) four Brassicaceae genotypes; 3) seven sorghum–sudangrass hybrids; and 4) four other species [black hollyhock, sunn hemp, elecampane ( Inula helenium L.), and black-eyed Susan ( Rudbeckia hirta L.)]. Plants were inoculated with a factorial combination of M. javanica and P. aphanidermatum (none, each alone, and in combination) and repeated four times in a split-plot experimental design (whole plots were factorial treatments and subplots were green manure crop genotypes). Six weeks after inoculation, plants were harvested and measured for fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots and Rf of M. javanica . Adverse effects of P. aphanidermatum were characterized by dead or dying roots and measured by reduced plant biomass. Negative synergistic effects were observed in several marigold and Brassicaceae genotypes, in which the combined effects of M. javanica and P. aphanidermatum reduced shoot and root growth more severely than either treatment alone. Marigold T. erecta cv. Orangeade, sorghum–sudangrass cvs. Graze-All, Piper, and Sordan 79, and sunn hemp appeared to be resistant to M. javanica and P. aphanidermatum , either alone or in combination. Based on results of greenhouse trials, eight green manure crops (yellow mustard cv. Ida Gold, French marigolds cvs. Nema-gone and Golden Guardian, sorghum–sudangrass cvs. Sordan 79 and Tastemaker, sunn hemp, unplanted plot, and a control plot with weed mat) were selected and grown for 3 months in a field trial in Pepeekeo, HI. Each treatment was replicated four times in a randomized complete block design. Shoot biomass was sampled at 1, 2, and 3 months after planting. Plant–parasitic nematodes were counted before planting and at 4 months after planting. Dry weight biomass averaged across three sampling dates was greatest for the two sorghum–sudangrass hybrids followed by those of two marigold cultivars that did not differ from them. No significant differences in populations of root-knot nematodes were found. Based on this field trial as well as greenhouse trials, marigold cultivars, sorghum–sudangrass hybrids, and sunn hemp appeared to be non-hosts or poor hosts to reniform ( Rotylenchulus reniformis ) as well as root-knot nematodes and well adapted to the environmental conditions found along the Hamakua Coast of the Hawaii Island.
Taro, Colocasia esculenta, is one of the world's oldest root crops and is of particular economic and cultural significance in Hawai'i, where historically more than 150 different landraces were grown. We developed a genome-wide set of more than 2400 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers from 70 taro accessions of Hawaiian, South Pacific, Palauan, and mainland Asian origins, with several objectives: 1) uncover the phylogenetic relationships between Hawaiian and other Pacific landraces, 2) shed light on the history of taro cultivation in Hawai'i, and 3) develop a tool to discriminate among Hawaiian and other taros. We found that almost all existing Hawaiian landraces fall into 5 monophyletic groups that are largely consistent with the traditional Hawaiian classification based on morphological characters, for example, leaf shape and petiole color. Genetic diversity was low within these clades but considerably higher between them. Population structure analyses further indicated that the diversification of taro in Hawai'i most likely occurred by a combination of frequent somatic mutation and occasional hybridization. Unexpectedly, the South Pacific accessions were found nested within the clades mainly composed of Hawaiian accessions, rather than paraphyletic to them. This suggests that the origin of clades identified here preceded the colonization of Hawai'i and that early Polynesian settlers brought taro landraces from different clades with them. In the absence of a sequenced genome, this marker set provides a valuable resource towards obtaining a genetic linkage map and to study the genetic basis of phenotypic traits of interest to taro breeding such as disease resistance.
Abstract Aluminum (Al) toxicity is one of the major factors limiting plant growth in acid soils. To determine the response of taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] to Al‐toxicity, cultivars (cv.) Lehua maoli and Bun long were grown in hydroponic solution at six initial levels of Al (0, 110, 220, 440, 890, and 1330 uM Al). Increasing Al levels significantly depressed fresh and dry weights of taro leaf blades, petioles, and roots, as well as leaf areas and root lengths. No significant cultivar differences were found for plant dry weights. However, significant cultivar differences were found for expansion growth parameters, with cv. Lehua maoli exhibiting greater leaf fresh weights and root lengths in the presence of Al, compared to cv. Bun long. Apparently, differential response of taro cultivars to Al is related to the ability of the Al‐tolerant cultivar to maintain water uptake and cell expansion in the presence of Al. The initial solution Al level that resulted in the greatest separation of growth differences between taro cultivars in their response to Al was 890 μM Al. Notes This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under CSRS Special Grant No. 90–34135–5188, managed by the Pacific Basin Advisory Group (PBAG). Journal Series No. 3766, Hawaii Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI.
Tissue-cultured, virus-tested (TC) plantlets of sweetpotato ( Ipomoea batatas var. batatas ) cultivars Okinawan, LA 08-21p, and Murasaki-29 were obtained from Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. The objectives of field trials conducted at the Kula Agricultural Park, Maui, HI, were to compare yield and pest resistance of 1) ‘Okinawan’ obtained from a commercial (C) field with TC ‘Okinawan’ and 2) TC Okinawan with the aforementioned TC cultivars. Trials were planted Oct. 2015 and Aug. 2016 and harvested 5 months later. Storage roots were graded according to State of Hawai’i standards, and marketable yields included Grades AA, A, and B. In addition, injuries due to sweetpotato weevil ( Cylas formicarius elegantulus ) or rough sweetpotato weevil ( Blosyrus asellus ) were estimated. In both trials, fresh and dry weights of marketable storage roots of TC ‘Okinawan’ were nearly twice those from commercial planting material. In both trials, marketable fresh weights differed among the three TC cultivars; however, significant interactions were found, indicating that yields of cultivars differed between years. In the first field trial, ‘LA 08-21p’ had fresh marketable yields 1.6 to 1.7 times greater than TC ‘Okinawan’ and Murasaki-29, respectively. In the second trial, fresh marketable yields of TC ‘Okinawan’ and ‘LA 08-21p’were similar and 1.7 to 1.5 times greater than that of ‘Murasaki-29’, respectively. In both trials, ‘LA 08-21p’ had greater sweetpotato weevil injury than did the other two cultivars. Interestingly, in the second year, TC ‘Okinawan’ had greater rough sweetpotato weevil injury than did the other cultivars. Our results indicate that tissue-cultured planting materials increased marketable yields of TC ‘Okinawan’ compared with C ‘Okinawan’ sweetpotato and that the other TC cultivars did not produce greater yields than TC Okinawan.
Taro [ Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott cv. Bun‐long] is a tropical root crop with the potential to be grown commercially on former sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L.) lands in Hawaii. To determine the effects of varying environmental conditions on crop production and to validate an aroid simulation model developed earlier, taro was grown under rainfed conditions at two sites that differed in elevation (90 and 335 m) on Hawaii island and at four planting dates (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall) on 27 February, 28 May, 27 August, and 24 November 1992. Biomass harvests were conducted at bimonthly intervals. Using weather, soil, cultivar, and management practices in this field trial, the aroid crop simulation model predicted dry weight of plant components, leaf area index (LAI), and time to harvest maturity defined as leaf stage. Fresh and dry weights of corms increased linearly from 1 to 13 months after planting (MAP), indicating continuous partitioning to the storage organ. The increase in corm fresh weight was significantly greater for Spring + Summer plantings compared with Fall + Winter plantings, primarily due to lower incidence of corm rot. Due to its indeterminant growth, taro can be harvested between 6 and 13 MAP, depending on incidence of pests and soil and weather conditions that could cause early maturation. The aroid model simulated well the maximum LAI; however, it underestimated both potential dry corm yield and length of time to harvest maturity, indicating that further development of this aroid simulation model is needed.
