Nutrient Use Efficiency of Two Improved Cultivars of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) under Screen House Conditions in Samoa | Chapter 15 | New Perspectives in Agriculture and Crop Science Vol. 1
Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott)
is a staple crop of many of the South Pacific nations with an ever increasing
export demand. In recent years, yields of taro have increased dramatically
through breeding and selection. However, selections of improved lines are often
entirely based on final yield. There are many physiological pathways by which
increased potential yield may be achieved. Factors such as the accumulation of
dry matter and nutrient use efficiency, merit investigation. Two improved
(blight resistant) taro cultivars were planted and harvested for biomass
measurements on a monthly basis for a total of eight months (30-240 days after
planting) through destructive sampling. At each harvest, plants were separated
into various plant parts and their dry matter accumulation and nutrient content
were determined. Comparatively, cultivar Samoa 2 showed significantly higher
uptake of N (25%), P (37.5%), K (33%), Mg (36.4%), Mn (22.7%) and Zn (48.3%)
than cultivar Samoa 1. Even though maximum levels of total plant uptake of
nutrients by the two cultivars did not differ between the cultivars, cultivar
Samoa 1 plants absorbed 17% less N, 26% less P and 20% less K than those of
cultivar Samoa 2 with the uptake uniformly distributed over the entire life
cycle of the crop. Although cultivar Samoa 2 resulted in higher total plant
(19.6%) and corm dry matter (10.4%) productions, cultivar Samoa 1 had a higher
nutrient use efficiency, (kg of edible dry matter produced per kg of nutrient
taken up), for N, P, K, Mg, Mn and Cu over cultivar Samoa 2. However, for Ca,
Fe and Zn. Cultivar Samoa 2 had a higher nutrient use efficiency over cultivar
Samoa 1. Based on nutrient use efficiency of the cultivars, Samoa 1 is
recommended for marginal to rich soils while Samoa 2 for good to rich soils.
Author(s) Details
Sanjay
Anand
Faculty
of Business and Economics, School of Agriculture and Food Technology, The
University of the South Pacific, Alafua Campus, Apia, Samoa.
Danilo
Flores Guinto
Ballance
Fertilisers, Tauraga, New Zealand.
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