An overview of the pathology of genus Colocasia.

Abstract

This paper reviews information available from various sources which relates to diseases of taro in Papua New Guinea. Taros are subject to infection by both aerial and soil-borne pathogens. The pathogens which exploit taro production include fungi, bacteria, nematodes, viruses and virus-like organisms and mycoplasmas, some of which are able to reduce yields quite substantially. Because of the nature of this crop, its traditional system of cultivation and the strong influence of ecosystem on both the host and the pathogens, it appears that taro pathogens do interact with their host and that the mechanism of resistance is relatively narrow Thus, the integrated pest management (IPM) approach appears to be appropriate for taro disease control.