Cocoyam or Taro, Colocasia esculenta was one of the most common plants that easily grew in our backyards and the wild. It sprouts in very good moist conditions and so rainy periods are the best times to find or grow it.
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Cocoyam is grown for the corm and leaves. It produces very delicious corms and the fresh leaves (kontomire) are very nutritious. The leaves have a substantial amount of Vitamin A and C and are a better source of protein than the plant’s roots. However, the leaves must be cooked before consuming.
Now we look at the fast disappearance of a crop that serves as a very nutritional part of the diet of over 10% of global population. A number of reasons, they state, have led to the gradual disappearing. Quite a majority are of the view that the advent of chemicals, particularly weedicides and the abusive application in farming is a major factor.
As we continue to digest the topic,
Why is cocoyam fast disappearing?
Gradually the plant is fast disappearing in our backyards and in the wild. The questions many are asking are;
- Is it as a result of the abusive use of chemicals in farming?
- Is it the climate change?
- What is happening to it?
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January 17, 2018
January 17, 2018
6 Comments. Leave new
this is personal experience, when cocoyam is sprayed with herbicide the stem and leaves dies but the tuber in the soil can resist the toxins and hibernate in the soil for some time until it’s refreshed, then regerminate
Thanks for sharing your experience Nana Amponsa. Consistent or repeated application of the herbicides also tends to kill the vigour of the tubers/corms.
I believe the problem of weeds in cocoyam can and should be controlled manually. The slightest drop of a weedicide will destroy the cocoyam and so it is very much not advised. Climate change, yes to some extent, but the chemicals destroy faster.
I don’t agree. Weeds normally are problems for cocoyam since it forms canopies. The disappearance is largely due to climate change
Weedicide, the major cause, i agree. “Are farmers not aware” or they would rather sacrifice cocoyam for the other crops? I wonder. With good and sustainable practices we can save cocoyam whiles we grow other crops.
Weedicide is the major cause. It destroys the leafs and the tubers complete
The use of cutlasses and hoes were good for cocoyam.
Weedicides kill other organisms that help to make our lands fertile