Meta‐analysis of corm yield responses to chemical and biological approaches for managing taro leaf blight disease

BACKGROUND: Taro leaf blight (TLB), caused by Phytophthora colocasiae, inflicts yield losses of up to 90% and annual economic damage exceeding USD 1.4 billion in West Africa. Despite a growing body of literature on chemical and biological disease management, no quantitative synthesis has compared their efficacy for protecting taro corm yield. This meta-analysis quantified the effects of chemical fungicides and biological control treatments on taro yield. RESULTS: = 93.7%), and trim-and-fill adjustment further reduced the estimate to near zero (g = 0.011). Median biological treatment yields were 7.9% below untreated control yields. CONCLUSION: Chemical fungicides provide robust, reproducible yield protection against TLB across geographic regions and experimental conditions. The evidence base for biological control of TLB is currently insufficient to support conclusions about efficacy: the available studies are few, the data are heterogeneous, imputation rates for standard deviations are high, and accounting for study-level clustering eliminates the apparent statistical significance of the pooled estimate. Standardized reporting protocols and targeted trials in major taro-producing regions are needed before biological or integrated management strategies can be recommended on an evidence-based basis. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.