Crops > Roots & tubers > Taro > Fungi > Taro leaf blight, Samoa



Crops > Roots & tubers > Taro > Fungi > Taro leaf blight, Samoa

Crops Roots & tubers TaroFungiTaro leaf blight, Samoa

Taro leaf blight

July 2002. Farmers on the island of Savaii, Samoa still grow fine crops of the variety Taro Niue, and they do this without removing leaf infections or using fungicide. Rainfall is relatively low on the island. Nevertheless, lesions of taro leaf blight are common. They are large, as large as seen on any taro variety.

It is a reminder of just how susceptible Taro Niue (called Tausala ni Samoa in Fiji) and many other traditional taro varieties of the Pacific are to this disease.

Countries that do not yet have taro leaf blight need to consider what measures they are taking to prevent its introduction, and how they will tackle it if it does get in.