Effects of Flooding on Growth and Yield of Taro (Clocasia esculenta Schott cv. ‘Daikichi’) in Pot Culture

We studied the effects of flooding on the growth of taro (Clocasia esculenta Schott cv. ‘Daikichi’) in pot culture. Under flooded conditions, the upland cultivar ‘Daikichi’ was able to grow as well as the lowland cultivar ‘Taimo’. After about 120 days of flooding, ‘Daikichi’ petioles had elongated to 1.3–1.9 times those of the control. The transpiration rate had increased to about two times that of the control. Indeed, the yields of mother and daughter tubers of ‘Daikichi’ had increased, respectively, to 1.3–4.4 and 1.6–3.7 times those of the control. These results suggest that the upland cultivar ‘Daikichi’ is highly adaptive to flooding and as well as the lowland cultivar ‘Taimo’.