Taro in Northern Vietnam: Its Uses, Cultivation, and Genetic Variation

Abstract

Uses and cultivation of taro species were investigated in the Red River Delta and the mountainous region of northern Vietnam, to analyze the present situation and to compare the two ecological areas. Morphological characteristics, ploidy, and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) variation were examined for the taro plants collected. Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta, C. esculenta var, aquatilis, C. gigantea, Xanthosoma sagittifolium, X violaceum, Alocasia macrorrhiza, and A, odora were detected in the surveys. The uses and habitats of C. esculenta var. aquatilis were linked to the agroecosystems of the delta. The plant was frequently found around canals and farmers' ponds in the delta, and its petioles and stolons were harvested for human consumption and pig fodder. Its importance as pig fodder seemed to have declined gradually, due to the recent social and economic changes. Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta was grown mainly as a cash crop in the delta. On the other hand, it was grown for local consumption in the shifting cultivation system at a mountainous site. Genetically close cultivars of var. esculenta were found within each ecological area, but not between the areas, based on the Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of rDNA. This distribution in northern Vietnam may reflect the influence of differences in the dispersal in Asia. Xanthosoma spp. were found at all the sites, and there was a similarity in their uses and cultivation. The accessions of Xanthosoma spp. were genetically uniform. Colocasia gigantea was not very common, but was widely distributed and used as a vegetable.