Comparative Study of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) Grown on Wetlands and Uplands for Yield and Other Agro-Morphological Traits

Despite the numerous importance of taro, it still remains an underutilised crop in Ghana with little information on many aspects of the crop, especially agronomic practices. In order to obtain data that can be used to improve and sustain taro production, an experiment was conducted to study growth, yield, and other agro-morphological traits of three promising taro accessions (BL/SM/80, BL/SM/16, and KA/019) with the objective of comparing the growth and yield on wetland and upland and identify elite accessions for wetland or upland cultivation. The experimental field was laid out in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated three times at each site. An experimental field measuring 15 m × 16 m was used for the study. Each replicate measured 4 m × 4 m with 1.5 m between plots in a block and 2 m between blocks or replicates. Plants in a plot were planted at 1 m × 1 m, with 25 plants per plot. Crop growth and development data were collected four weeks (30 days) after planting and at every four-week interval (30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, and 210) days after planting (DAP). Data on yield components were measured at harvest (7 months after planting). Five plants were randomly selected from each plot for data collection, and averages were estimated. Data collected was analysed using Statistics (9^th edition). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used, and treatment means were separated by LSD at 5% probability (0.05) level where there are significant differences. Taro growth in both conditions (upland and wetland) during 30 - 120 days was characterised by an increase in above-ground plant growth. Plants planted in upland conditions recorded higher values for growth parameters. There was a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05 and p ≤ 0.01) in these growth parameters of taro at some of the periods at which data were collected. The study shows that upland cultivation of taro is possible, as yields obtained from wetland conditions did not differ from the yields of upland conditions. Cultivars BL/SM/80 and BL/SM/16 are recommended for upland cultivation. All three cultivars (BL/SM/80, KA/19, and BL/SM/16) are good for wetland cultivation.