PALAUAN TARO VARIETIES FOR LUAU TRIAL
R.T. Hamasaki
An unreplicated taro variety trial was installed to test promising
varieties for luau production under wetland conditions at a cooperator's
farm on July 11, 1996. The trial included 8 Palauan taro varieties
with tolerance to the taro leaf blight, one variety from the Philippines
(PSBG2), and Chinese taro Cv. Bunlong which is the industry standard for
luau. Luau harvests were conducted during November through March
which included some periods of extremely wet weather. The yield (pounds
and number of leaves produced) and disease incidence were recorded.
A leaf with at least one lesion caused by Phytophthora colocasiae was considered
to be diseased and unmarketable.
Conditions: Wet Land (paddy)
Island: Kahaluu, Island of Oahu
Date Planted: July 11, 1996
12 plants per variety (Unreplicated)
Makai |
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VARIETY |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Bunlong |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
PSBG3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
P1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
P3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
P5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
P7 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
P13 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
P16 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
P20 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
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Bunlong |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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Bunlong |
Mauka |
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HARVESTING DATES
#1 |
#2 |
#3 |
#4 |
#5 |
#6 |
11/7/96 |
11/29/96 |
12/20/96 |
1/17/97 |
2/14/97 |
3/13/97 |
TOTAL (INCLUDING DISEASED) LUAU YIELD (POUNDS) FROM 12 PLANTS
Variety |
#1 |
#2 |
#3 |
#4 |
#5 |
#6 |
Total |
Bunlong |
0.50 |
0.44 |
1.5 |
1.75 |
4.63 |
2.81 |
11.63 |
PSBG2 |
0.3 |
0.63 |
1.25 |
2.06 |
2.75 |
2.81 |
9.80 |
P1 |
0.55 |
1.13 |
1.56 |
3.00 |
5.75 |
6.31 |
18.30 |
P3 |
0.5 |
1.31 |
2.19 |
3.00 |
4.69 |
5.31 |
17.00 |
P5 |
0.4 |
1.19 |
1.69 |
3.5 |
7.00 |
7.31 |
21.09 |
P7 |
0.3 |
0.63 |
1.00 |
1.75 |
4.31 |
5.31 |
13.30 |
P13 |
0.75 |
1.13 |
1.06 |
2.75 |
4.75 |
5.75 |
16.19 |
P16 |
0.6 |
0.94 |
1.56 |
2.19 |
5.00 |
6.63 |
16.92 |
P20 |
0.25 |
0.75 |
1.06 |
1.69 |
3.94 |
5.25 |
12.94 |
TOTAL (INCLUDING DISEASED) NUMBER OF LEAVES HARVESTED
FROM 12 PLANTS
Variety |
#1 |
#2 |
#3 |
#4 |
#5 |
#6 |
Total |
Bunlong |
19 |
30 |
84 |
77 |
87 |
31 |
328 |
PSBG2 |
12 |
41 |
61 |
93 |
64 |
41 |
312 |
P1 |
10 |
46 |
46 |
66 |
83 |
53 |
292 |
P3 |
6 |
51 |
51 |
73 |
58 |
40 |
259 |
P5 |
14 |
39 |
39 |
62 |
70 |
48 |
268 |
P7 |
10 |
29 |
29 |
42 |
51 |
35 |
189 |
P13 |
11 |
43 |
43 |
37 |
41 |
38 |
190 |
P16 |
17 |
66 |
66 |
68 |
87 |
62 |
327 |
P20 |
7 |
24 |
24 |
30 |
30 |
34 |
149 |
AVERAGE NUMBER OF LEAVES IN ONE POUND OF FRESH LUAU
Bunlong |
28.20 |
PSBG2 |
31.84 |
P1 |
15.96 |
P3 |
15.24 |
P5 |
12.71 |
P7 |
14.21 |
P13 |
11.74 |
P16 |
19.34 |
P20 |
11.52 |
SUMMARY OF PERCENT DISEASED LEAVES
Data Reported in Percent (%)
Variety |
#1 |
#2 |
#3 |
#4 |
#5 |
#6 |
Bunlong |
63 |
83 |
4.8 |
91 |
75 |
97 |
PSBG2 |
20 |
83 |
0 |
72 |
52 |
90 |
P1 |
10 |
44 |
6.5 |
53 |
64 |
85 |
P3 |
50 |
90 |
5.9 |
86 |
76 |
88 |
P5 |
29 |
46 |
2.6 |
58 |
63 |
85 |
P7 |
10 |
46 |
0 |
57 |
67 |
86 |
P10 |
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27 |
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P13 |
0 |
70 |
0 |
57 |
73 |
95 |
P16 |
24 |
37 |
3.0 |
35 |
66 |
90 |
P20 |
29 |
38 |
0 |
23 |
60 |
74 |
MARKETABLE YIELD (POUNDS) FROM 12 PLANTS
Data Reported in Percent (%)
Variety |
#1 |
#2 |
#3 |
#4 |
#5 |
#6 |
Total |
Bunlong |
0.25 |
0.13 |
1.38 |
0.19 |
1.63 |
0.13 |
3.71 |
PSBG2 |
0.25 |
0.13 |
1.25 |
0.56 |
1.31 |
0.13 |
3.63 |
P1 |
0.50 |
0.69 |
1.5 |
1.63 |
2.19 |
1.13 |
7.64 |
P3 |
0.25 |
0.13 |
2.0 |
0.63 |
1.31 |
0.75 |
5.07 |
P5 |
0.25 |
0.56 |
1.63 |
1.69 |
3.06 |
1.00 |
8.19 |
P7 |
0.25 |
0.56 |
1.0 |
0.94 |
1.69 |
0.94 |
5.38 |
P13 |
0.75 |
0.69 |
1.06 |
1.38 |
1.25 |
0.19 |
5.32 |
P16 |
0.50 |
0.50 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
2.00 |
0.75 |
6.75 |
P20 |
0.125 |
0.44 |
1.06 |
1.38 |
2.00 |
1.25 |
6.255 |
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Mean Value: N=6
Variety |
Leaf Weight |
Total # of Leaves |
% Diseased Leaves |
Marketable Weight |
BUNLONG |
1.9cd |
54.6a |
68.9a |
0.62a |
P1 |
3.0ab |
48.7ab |
43.7a |
1.3a |
P3 |
2.8abc |
43.2ab |
66.0a |
0.84a |
P5 |
3.5a |
44.7ab |
47.3a |
1.4a |
P7 |
2.2cde |
31.5ab |
44.3a |
0.9a |
P13 |
2.7abc |
31.7ab |
49.2a |
0.9a |
P16 |
2.8abc |
54.5a |
42.5a |
1.1a |
P20 |
2.1cde |
24.8b |
37.3a |
1.0a |
PSBG2 |
1.6d |
52.0a |
52.8a |
0.6a |
SIGNIFICANCE LEVELS: |
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Cultivar |
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*(10%) |
NS |
NS |
Model |
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Date |
** |
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Date x cv. |
** |
NS |
NS** |
NS |
NS**= not significant even after transforming the percentage points with
ARCSIN.
FIELD TRIAL INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
R.T.. Hamasaki
NOTE: THE INFORMATION BELOW IS INTENDED ONLY
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. THE RESULTS ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR PUBLISHING.
REVIEWERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THE SUMMARY IS A PERSONAL INTERPRETATION
BY THE LEAD PROJECT INVESTIGATOR. DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When total
leaf yields (including diseased leaves) were analyzed, the varieties P5,
P1, P3, P16, and P13 were the higher yielding varieties but only the yields
of P5 and P1 were significantly higher than that of Bunlong. However,
there were no significant differences among varieties when "marketable
yields" were analyzed. This suggests to me that some of the Palauan
varieties produced more biomass than Bunlong during high disease conditions
but many leaves won't be marketable due to the presence of lesions.
Keep in mind that we went through an extremely wet winter in 1996.
There were no significant differences among
varieties in terms of "Percent Disease." This suggests to me that
the Palauan varieties may get just as much "leaves with at least one lesion"
during high rainfall conditions. This does make sense because the
Palauan taro plants had a high percentage of leaves with blight.
However, the Palauan taro plants still looked much more vigorous and large
while Bunlong was severely stunted from the effects of the disease.
The capacity for produce more biomass during high blight conditions suggest
to me that the Palauan varieties would produce higher corms during high
rainfall (blight) conditions than susceptible varieties and may recover
faster than Bunlong for luau as soon as the weather clears.