Archives of Current Research International

Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott), commonly known as arvi, is a member of the family Araceae and subfamily Colocasioideae. Northeast India is one of the centers of origin of Colocasia, and both morphological and physiological variation occurs in Colocasia in the region. The study was conducted at the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, to assess the morphological diversity of Colocasia germplasm from Dima Hasao district, Assam, and to undertake their taxonomic identification. A total of 16 germplasm was collected from five blocks, namely Harangajao, Mahur, Maibang, Diyungbra, and Sangbar, and evaluated for morphological traits in a randomized block design with three replications. Morphological variation in leaf and corm characters was observed during the study. Of the 16 cultivars, 87.50% exhibited an erect-apex-down leaf orientation. Green and purple were the most frequent petiole-junction colours (37.5% each), and 75% of the cultivars had green main veins. Most cultivars (62.5%) exhibited undulated leaf margins, while yellow was the most frequent leaf-blade-margin colour (37.5%). Purple occurred in the upper petiole portion of 56.25% of the cultivars, whereas 75% had green lower petiole portions. Red was the most frequent dorsal petiole-junction colour (43.75%), and yellow was the most frequent dorsal main-vein colour (43.75%). Corms were cylindrical (25%), conical (25%), round (18.75%), elongated (18.75%), or elliptical (12.5%). Branched corms occurred in 87.5% of cultivars, while 12.5% produced unbranched corms. Taxonomic identification indicated that Thagajao, Thaklong-galao, Thahon, and Tharujung belonged to C. esculenta, whereas Thaklong belonged to C. antiquorum. The germplasm   exhibited considerable variation and may be useful in breeding programme aimed at developing improved taro varieties or hybrids.