These scientists are future-proofing a vitally important crop Taro | Disovery | Gardening Australia

We’re in a plant-filled laboratory and greenhouse at the St Lucia campus of University of Queensland. Here scientists are studiously observing hundreds of taro plants, trying to unlock the secrets of a new kind of taro that’s ready for the challenges of climate change-both at home and abroad, in an international research partnership with Fiji. Subscribe 🔔 ab.co/GA-subscribe
Taro (Colocasia esculenta cv.) is a tropical plant primarily grown for it’s sweet, starchy, edible corms, which are a hugely important food crop globally. A staple food in African, PNG, Asian, Caribbean and in particular Polynesian cultures, taro is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants. In 2018 global production was over 10 million tonnes.
Despite this global importance, the crop remains somewhat neglected in scientific research, particularly when compared to commodity crops like wheat. “Taro fits in what we call ‘orphan crops’, where all the research funding attention in Australia focuses on larger staple crops at the expense of others. It means we can make advances with these ‘orphan crops’ quickly, as there’s less improvements that have been made already” says plant physiology researcher at the University of Queensland, Dr Millicent Smith.
As part of the research project, Millicent and her team of researchers have been taking different taro plants (collected over a 20-year project!) and subjecting them to varying degrees of salinity, and seeing who survives.
Various taro seedlings are placed into containers not unlike self-watering pots, and then submitted to different degrees of salinity, precisely calibrated. Their reactions are recorded on cameras.
Parallel to this is detailed genetic mapping, looking to correlate particular genetic “markers” in taro with better performance in salinity. Once these genetic markers are identified, it makes it easier to identify them in other taro varieties.
“We observe how plants react to these salinity treatments. Plants can adjust to salinity osmotically (through diffusion of water/fluid-pH), but toxic ions still build up. Some plants like saltbush have a strategy for dealing with these ions. We’re finding out what the key traits are for taro to survive this salinity. We want to find the mechanism. Once we do that, we can bring any mechanism we find back through plant breeding”.
Salinity can reduce a plant’s ability to absorb water, resulting in symptoms like drought; stunted growth, poor germination, leaf burn, wilting and death. Salinity can also affect nutrient availability and uptake.
“We try to understand the process of how these plants were domesticated, and through that we’re trying to find traits that may have inadvertently selected against in the past, that may help”.
But the search for the taro of the future doesn’t stop within the confines of existing taro cultivars. All along the Brisbane River and surrounding tributaries, taro thrive on muddy embankments, thought to be escapees from gardens and farms.
The hope is these Brisbane-brand emancipated taro populations may hold the key to keep the crop going in a not-so-distant future climate.
Perhaps nowhere is the reality of climate change clearer than in the Pacific Ocean. As sea levels rise, small island nations like Tonga, Samoa and Fiji find themselves increasingly dealing with rising soil salinity. Coincidentally, many of these countries also rely on the taro as a staple food, grown largely in coastal areas. As salinity in arable areas increases, the future of this essential food is under threat.
Dr Brad Campbell is a molecular biologist at the University of Queensland which has been working in partnership with the national scientific body of Fiji to address this very problem.
The future of growing food in a changing climate is uncertain, but one thing is definite; crops everywhere will need to get by in harder, more changeable conditions. It’s humbling to think that the answer to feeding millions of people may be sitting on the muddy banks of the Brisbane River, waiting patiently to be discovered.
Featured Plant:
TARO - Colocasia esculenta cv.
Filmed on Turrbal & Yuggera Country | Brisbane, Qld
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[@brianquinn5060]

Great to see whats going on. Thanks.

[@blank.9301]

Let's use ecosia 👍🌱🌲🌱🌳

[@bennybennerson7728]

All ready do

[@bennybennerson7728]

I support what your doing but I live a few hours south of Brisbane and tarrow is a really invasive weed why did you not mention that is highly invasive

[@gloriaiarango]

First they said so and it's not a "weed" this is a plant. I think that's why those cultures eat the plants and keep them from overgrowing. Wouldn't it be better if people learn how to use it in the kitchen??

[@bennybennerson7728]

@@gloriaiarango I know that this plant is native in sone places but some plants have the tendency to be highly invasive whilst others don’t this is one if the plants which can be highly invasive thus for they should of give a heads up on that

[@elcapitan240]

@@bennybennerson7728 we should definitely encourage australian native plants, and maintain a variety. Not just rely on 1 plant.

[@tonyneville4425]

Omg stop with the propaganda

[@bennybennerson7728]

What part of this is propaganda do you know what propaganda is

[@thebigw3377]

Climate Alarmist BS

[@bennybennerson7728]

How do you still not believe in climate change it just doesn’t make sense to me

[@bennybennerson7728]

@ Chris Garten how is deforesting half the earth , causing the earth’s fastest mass extinction, burning coal causing the atmosphere to thicken, increasing the whole planet’s temperature and increasing the sea level natural to you because that seems like that’s quite the opposite of natural if you ask me and every piece of reputable data that can’t be done naturally in a span of a few hundred years maybe do some research that isn’t FOX “news”

[@bennybennerson7728]

@@chrisgartenn yeah remember how the earth was thought to be flat science changes surely you can under stand that right

[@thebigw3377]

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[@bennybennerson7728]

@@thebigw3377 so your calling me gullible while your just taking all of your information from the same place what I’m assuming is FOX and SKY news then just spreading there known disproven and misleading information if anyones going to fall for a Nigerian prince scam that’s for sure gonna be someone like you