Morphological Evaluation of Locally Available Cultivated Taro (Colocasia esculenta) Cultivars for Growth and Yield Attributes in Kokrajhar, Assam, India

Taro probably is one of the world’s oldest crop and important crop species in the district but its cultivation and consumption still lie within the less privileged farmers in Kokrajhar district of Assam, India. It is cultivated for its tubers, tender leaves and inflorescence. It is also observed that several morphological types are found in upland and hilly slopes of the district, but their identification and morphological studies are not very clear, and their agronomic potentiality further needs to be analysed. Under such situations, a study has been taken to evaluate all the local varieties namely Pehle, Abor, Daomasar, Deraduma and Tharun gubwi in terms of yield and other agronomic parameters for proper documentation of genetic diversity and differentiation in the district. The trial was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The study was conducted in Debitola and Kachugaon blocks of Kokrajhar district. The results indicated significant differences for all the characteristics studied. ‘Tharun gubwi’ recorded highest value for plant height (134.4cm), leaf size (2244.0 cm2), corm breadth (8.10cm), average corm weight (2036.00g) and average yield (2248.33g/plant). Petiole length was recorded highest in Cv. Deraduma (95.23 cm). Cv. Daomasar was recorded with maximum plant spread of 144.5 cm and numbers of side shoots (5.67 nos.). Highest corm length (20.23cm), cormel length (13.24cm) and cormel weight (98.25g) was recorded maximum in Cv. Abor. Results revealed that all these local cultivars have good agronomic importance therefore, various developmental programmes are need to be undertaken for popularizing it to every corner of the state and country