What are the key points of high-yield taro cultivation techniques?
Taro, also known as ground chestnut, vegetable groundnut, fragrant ginseng, ground chestnut, diploid taro, yellow chestnut taro, etc., is a food widely cultivated in southern China. Below, let us learn about the high-yield cultivation techniques for taro.
High-yield taro cultivation techniques
1. Growing conditions
Taro requires a high-temperature, highly humid environment. A relatively large day-night temperature difference is beneficial to corm formation. During the corm formation period, 28-30°C during the day and 18-20°C at night are most suitable. Moreover, dryland taro requires moist soil during its growing period, while paddy taro requires a certain water layer during its growing period. The soil must have a high organic matter content, be loose in texture and well aerated, with a plow layer thickness of more than 13 cm and a soil pH of 8. Continuous cropping is avoided.
2. Seed selection and sowing
Although both large and small corms of taro can be used as seed, generally the large corms are sold as produce, while small corms with a diameter of about 1.9 cm are kept for seed. The seed must retain its stolons, one on each side and separated, with the stolons left at least 2-3 cm long. Generally, sowing is mostly done around January to March (Start of Spring), with harvest in late summer or autumn (August to October). The method of sowing in opened rows and dibbling is used. After sowing, cover with soil and level the bed, with a sowing depth of 6 cm-8 cm.
3. Watering
In the early stage of planting taro, care should be taken not to provide too much water; in the middle stage of growth, irrigation should be carried out; and in the late stage of growth, before harvest, the water should be drained off. The period of highest water demand for taro is early July, because the external temperature is relatively high at this time, and taro growers should pay attention to the water supply at this time. In early to mid-August, the moisture in the soil should be kept from drying out. About 15 days before harvest, all the water in the furrows should be drained off.
4. Fertilization
The periods when taro has a relatively large demand for fertility during growth are mainly the seedling stage, the corm expansion stage and the maturity stage. The seedling stage includes the process from seed corm sprouting to the early stage of corm growth. At this time, the fertilization plan is to spray foliar fertilizer to break the seed dormancy period, so that it sprouts and grows, and then planting is carried out. The corm growth period is the expansion period, which generally lasts 45 days, during which 80% of the yield is formed, so the fertilizer requirement at this time is extremely large. One topdressing should be applied, and foliar fertilization should also be combined with it. The maturity stage requires less fertility, and foliar fertilizer application should be stopped. The dormancy period can last as long as 4 months.
5. Pest and disease control
Disease occurrence is controlled through agricultural control measures such as crop rotation and changing plots, while pest control uses physical control. In addition, before sowing and before setting up trellises and sheds, a comprehensive manual removal of weeds in the garden should be carried out together with loosening the soil.
During the growth of taro, attention should also be paid to carrying out intertillage and weeding, and leaves should be removed in a timely manner to ensure ventilation and nutrient supply.