The Decline of Taro and Taro Irrigation in Papua New Guinea

Taro is a very ancient food crop in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and was utilized in the highlands as early as 10,000 years ago. It was the most important food crop in PNG until about 300 years ago when it was displaced in the highlands (above 1200 m altitude) by the recently introduced sweet potato. In the lowlands, it remained an important food crop until the early 1940s. Since then taro production has been greatly reduced by a combination of taro blight, taro beetle and declining soil fertility. It is now the most important staple food crop in a limited number of remote inland locations. Taro provides only 4% of the food energy from the staple food crops, compared with 63% from sweet potato. In the 20th century, irrigation of taro was recorded as a generally minor practice at about 15 locations. There are indications that there was signifi cant irrigation of taro in the seasonally dry Eastern Highlands prior to the adoption of sweet potato there. By the mid 1990s, taro irrigation was recorded as a signifi cant practice at one location only. The glory days of taro and taro irrigation in PNG are now over.