Taro is an important crop, both as a primary food source and culturally. Taro is planted in various gardens and in the village, around houses. Taro is planted every year, during the dry season is planted in swamp gardens and during the wet season, it is planted in the yam garden in the bush (Warica Duya, p.c). It is primarily harvested as food for people but is also sometimes fed to pigs or dogs (W. Geser, R. Warama, and W. Warama, p.c.). In addition to the corm, the stems and leaves of specific varieties sometimes consumed. Leaves from ‘Gwaji’ and ‘Budae’ may be mixed with bush fruits or citrus and cooked in oven. However, eating leaves from taro was reported to be less common today than historically (W. Duya, p.c.).
Taro is only planted in good soil, often along riversides in softer ground. Plants are weak and can die in the dry season if planted somewhere without a water source W. Geser, R. Warama, and W. Warama, p.c.). Unlike yams, which are grown only during the rainy season, taro is planted at any time of year, by either men or women. When planting a taro sucker, a digging stick is used to create a round hole and the sucker is pushed into the hole by hand (W. Duya, p.c.). Sometimes the taro planting is covered with grass so it will “grow healthy.” Historically, cut grass and wallaby waste was collected and used as a fertilizer for taro. The grass and wallaby waste was mixed with the soil at planting and when the first two leaves opened, more grass would be placed around the plant (W. Duya, p.c.).
Taro is only planted in good soil, often along riversides in softer ground. Plants are weak and can die in the dry season if planted somewhere without a water source W. Geser, R. Warama, and W. Warama, p.c.). Unlike yams, which are grown only during the rainy season, taro is planted at any time of year, by either men or women. When planting a taro sucker, a digging stick is used to create a round hole and the sucker is pushed into the hole by hand (W. Duya, p.c.). Sometimes the taro planting is covered with grass so it will “grow healthy.” Historically, cut grass and wallaby waste was collected and used as a fertilizer for taro. The grass and wallaby waste was mixed with the soil at planting and when the first two leaves opened, more grass would be placed around the plant (W. Duya, p.c.).
When the shoot emerges, more soil is moved around the plant (called a mound or po, but different from the po mounds created for yams). Weeding may be done throughout the growing season and the plant gamu can be used as insecticide on the leaves (W. Geser, R. Warama, and W. Warama, p.c.). Burning the fruit of a native tree called mällat käp used to be used as an insect repellent (W. Duya, p.c.).
The maturation period from planting to harvesting is about seven months (M. Giwa, p.c.). Signs that a taro plant is ready to be harvested are leaves getting smaller and growing downward and beginning to senesce (W. Geser, R. Warama, and W. Warama, p.c.). Taro plants are harvested by hand, by holding the leaves and pulling, or with use of a digging stick or knife to loosen the soil if they are difficult to pull. Women, men, and children will harvest. Taro corms will rot if not harvested at the right time. Planting material for the subsequent crop will be harvested along with the corm. W. Duya (p.c.) reported that taro could only be kept for one to two weeks following harvest before rotting while others said that taro could be stored in yamhouses and kept up to two months before eating (W. Geser, R. Warama, and W. Warama, p.c.).
Issues with taro cultivation include pigs digging up taro and eating leaves, caterpillars eating leaves, and quality decline with too much water (W. Duya, p.c.).
The maturation period from planting to harvesting is about seven months (M. Giwa, p.c.). Signs that a taro plant is ready to be harvested are leaves getting smaller and growing downward and beginning to senesce (W. Geser, R. Warama, and W. Warama, p.c.). Taro plants are harvested by hand, by holding the leaves and pulling, or with use of a digging stick or knife to loosen the soil if they are difficult to pull. Women, men, and children will harvest. Taro corms will rot if not harvested at the right time. Planting material for the subsequent crop will be harvested along with the corm. W. Duya (p.c.) reported that taro could only be kept for one to two weeks following harvest before rotting while others said that taro could be stored in yamhouses and kept up to two months before eating (W. Geser, R. Warama, and W. Warama, p.c.).
Issues with taro cultivation include pigs digging up taro and eating leaves, caterpillars eating leaves, and quality decline with too much water (W. Duya, p.c.).