![]() | Better Farming Series 16 - Roots and Tubers (FAO - INADES, 1977, 58 p.) |
![]() | ![]() | Tania and taro |
![]() | ![]() | How to grow tania and taro |
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Depending on variety, tania and taro are between 6 and 14 months in the field.
The tubers are ripe and ready for harvest when the leaves turn yellow and the plant begins to wither.
The fully ripe tubers should be harvested in dry weather. If you harvest during the dry season, the tubers may be left in the earth for some time and will not spoil.
When the field is wet, the ripe tubers must be harvested quickly. They may sprout and will then be no good for human food.
Each tania or taro plant may yield several harvests during one crop period.
As a rule, the harvests should be organized as follows:
- For tania
The first harvest begins about 3 months after planting. Three months after this first harvest, you can take three or four additional harvests from each plant. After each of these additional harvests, wait 2 or 3 weeks before taking tubers again from the same plant.
- For taro
The first harvest begins 6 to 8 months after planting. After that, harvest again two or three times from the same plant at intervals of 2 or 3 weeks.
When harvesting dig out the soil right up to the plant, take the biggest tubers and detach them from the parent plant. Then fill in the hole. Let the young tubers develop before harvesting again.