How To Plant And Grow Elephant Foot Yam

 How To Plant And Grow Elephant Foot Yam

Elephant Foot Yam

Botanical Name : Amorphophallus companulatus 

Family : Araceae 

Chromosome No. = 26 व 28 

2n = : 2n 

                                                                               

  Elephant Foot Yam is a perennial tuberous crop. Which is called 'Suran' or 'Ol'.   Elephant Foot Yam is grown for its underground dense tubers. These are boiled and used as a vegetable.  Elephant Foot Yam  pickle is also made. In northern India, it is grown in kitchen gardens. At present, it is being grown on a small scale in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and the states of southern India.

   Elephant Foot Yam is very beneficial in curing blood disorders, constipation, piles, itching, stomach related disorders and is also anti-indigestion.

Origin and Distribution -   Elephant Foot Yam is considered to be the place of origin of 'India'. It is grown especially in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and southern India. Its cultivation is becoming popular in Varanasi, Basti and Mirzapur of Uttar Pradesh.

Nutritive value - The nutrients obtained from  Elephant Foot Yam  are given in the following table-

 

                                                                                  

 Elephant Foot Yam Growing

                                        (Nutrition Value of Elephant Foot Yam  per 100 gm)

Moisture              : 78.7 g Protein                 : 1.2 g Fat                        : 0.01 g Carbohydrates    : 18.4 g Minerals              : 0.8 g Calcium               : 50.0 mg Phosphorus         : 34 mg Iron                     : 0.6 mg Vitamin A           : 434 IU Riboflavin           : 0.07 mg Thiamine             : 0.06 mg Nicotinic Acid     : 0.7 mg

 

  Elephant Foot Yam is a cheap source of carbohydrates and it contains vitamin A, B and mineral salts in abundance. It is beneficial in blood disorders, constipation and piles.

Varieties –   Elephant Foot Yam grown varieties have not been standardized yet, but it is divided into two parts on the basis of cube tubers. Cube tubers of one of these classes are smooth and have bitterness. Due to which its use causes soreness in the mouth and throat. To reduce bitterness, cube tubers are boiled with tamarind leaves. Such cube tubers are propagated by cutting them. It is grown due to low price of seeds of this class and high yield. The pulp of cube tubers of the second class is light white to pink. There is less bitterness in them. But due to low yield, it is not produced commercially.

At present, many varieties of   Elephant Foot Yam are grown in India. Whose characteristic features are mentioned below.

1. Santaragachi – The plants of this variety are vigorous in growth. Its dense tubers are rough and light creamy in colour, which are a little bitter to eat. Small tubers (daughter corms) are attached to them which are able to grow fully in 4-4 years. 500-750 quintals of yield is obtained per hectare.

2. Kovour – Its plants are vigorous in growth. This is a high yielding variety. The growth of the dense tubers of this variety is uniform, but this variety is not able to produce daughter corms like the Santaragachi variety. It gives more than 1000 quintals of yield per hectare. Its dense tubers are smooth and without crunchiness. This is a suitable variety for South India.

3. Gajendra-1 – This variety contains less amount of Calcium Oxalate due to which its cube tubers have less acidity, the pulp of the cube tuber is light pink in colour. Small corms do not grow on the cube tubers of this variety and it gives 500-700 quintals of yield per hectare. This variety is becoming very popular in both North India and South India.

4. Am 15 – This variety has been developed by Central Tuber Crop Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). It is a high yielding variety, which is becoming more popular in South India.

Climate – Warm and moist weather is best for good vegetative growth and cool and dry weather is best for the growth of tubers. High temperature is required for germination of seeds after sowing. For proper growth of plants, there should be good rainfall in general. Cold weather is required for the development of tubers.

Soil and its Preparation - Fertile sandy loam soil is good for getting high yield of  Elephant Foot Yam . The water holding capacity of the soil should also be good.  Elephant Foot Yam  should not be cultivated in sandy and clay soil, because its tubers do not develop properly in these soils. Before transplanting, after two deep plowing with a soil turning plow, the field should be prepared by plowing twice with a country plow and leveling the field. Bunds and drains should be constructed according to irrigation. Before plowing, 20 tons of cow dung manure should be applied per hectare.

Propagation - High yielding non-acrid varieties of Elephant Foot Yam are propagated by vegetative method. Whose small cube tubers or cut cube tubers are used.

For commercial production of   Elephant Foot Yam, whole or cut rhizomes are used. Whose weight is 500-1000 grams. Only whole cube tubers should be sown. Because there is a possibility of rotting in cut cube tubers. For seeds, crop production and commercial production should be done separately. For seed production, cube tubers of 100-150 grams should be used because from these, 500 grams cube tubers are obtained. By using 500 grams cube tubers, 50 quintals of cube tubers are required per hectare. Whereas 100 quintals of 1 kg cube tubers are sufficient.

   How To Grow Elephant Foot Yam At Home

Treatment of cube tubers - Dipping cube tubers in cow dung slurry before sowing and drying them in shade increases the germination of cube tubers. Amorphophallus cube tubers have a longer dormancy period. Hence, to break it, they should be treated in 0.1% thiourea solution. Dormancy can also be broken effectively by GA 3 and Ethrel.

Sowing Time - The time of sowing of  Elephant Foot Yam  depends on where it is being grown. In irrigated areas of northern India, it is sown in February-March for its commercial production, whereas in rainfed areas, it is sown when the monsoon rains start in May-June. Whereas in South India, it is sown in May.

Method of Sowing - Sowing of   Elephant Foot Yam depends on whether Daughter corms or Amorphophallus corms are being used in it. Amorphophallus variety of corms are sown in pits because doing so gives more yield. The distance between the pits depends on the size of the planting material. 500 grams of cube tubers should be sown in pits of 35 x 35 x 35 cm size at a distance of 50 cm x 50 cm. This increases the yield and income. In Kerala, pits are dug at a distance of 90 cm x 90 cm and 1 kg cube tubers are used there and in this case the size of the pits is kept 60 x 60 x 60 cm. The size of the pit and the distance between them can be reduced according to the size of the tubers. If arbi is to be produced for seeds, then in that case 100 grams of tubers should be sown at a distance of 30 x 30 cm. Before sowing the tubers, 1-2 kg of compost or cow dung manure should be mixed in the soil. Cube tubers should be sown vertically in the pits and they should be sown at a depth of 10-15 cm. Then they should be covered with organic mulch for 3-4 weeks. Generally paddy straw is used for mulching.

    Elephant Foot Yam Tree

Manure and Fertilizers - Well decomposed cow dung manure or compost is given at the rate of 25-40 tonnes per hectare. For commercial crops grown in West Bengal and Bihar, NFAPO is given at the rate of 150:60:100 and 150:60:150 kg/hectare respectively. At the time of planting cube tubers, the entire quantity of phosphorus, half of nitrogen and 1/2 of potash is put in the pits made in the soil and the remaining quantity of nitrogen and potash is given twice. The first quantity is given 35 days after planting the cube tubers and the second quantity is given 75 days later. In the states of South India, the quantity of 80:60:80 kg/ha NPK has been found to be economically suitable. In Kerala, half the quantity of nitrogen and potash is given in two doses. The first dose is given 7-10 days after sprouting and the second dose is given after one month.

Irrigation - For uniform sprouting of cube tubers, light irrigation should be done after planting the tubers. Keep irrigating as per the need before monsoon. Water should not be filled in the field. Light irrigation should be done before digging out the cube tubers. So that they can be easily taken out.

Plant Protection

Weed Control - Many weeds grow along with the  Elephant Foot Yam  crop which adversely affect the growth and development of the crop. Therefore, to prevent them, weeding should be done twice, first when the crop is 5 weeks old and second when the crop is 75 days old, at this time soil should also be added.

Insect Control

Yam beetle and tobacco caterpillar cause special damage to the yam crop. Symptoms of the pest and treatment measures are given in the table-

           

                                   

Pests	symptoms	treatment
Yam beetle	The adult beetle is 8-9 mm long and light red-brown in colour. This insect and caterpillar cause damage by eating leaves and stalks.	Malathion 0.05% solution should be sprayed twice at an interval of 8-10 days.
Tobacco caterpillar	The caterpillars of the insect are green-brown in colour and are 35-40 mm long. They cause damage by eating leaves between July and September.	Indosulphan 0.05% solution should be sprayed at the rate of per hectare in 800-1000 litres of water.

 How To Plant And Grow Elephant Foot Yam

Disease Control

Mainly two diseases cause more damage to the   Elephant Foot Yam crop, which are mentioned below-

1. Blight - This disease is caused by a fungus called “Phytophthora colocasiae” due to which the leaves get scorched and the stem starts rotting and the growth of tubers stops, which has an adverse effect on the yield.

Prevention - The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease -

(i) Healthy seed tubers should be sown.

(ii) Before sowing the seeds, treat them in 2 percent solution of borax for 5 minutes and then sow.

(iii) While sowing the tubers, make sure to use bleaching powder in the pits.

(iv) When symptoms of disease appear on the plants, spray 0.2 percent solution of Dithane-Z-78.

First spraying should be done in July. After this, spray the same medicine again at an interval of 10-15 days.

2. Leaf and Corm Rot - This disease is caused by "Pythium aphanidermatum" and "Sclerotium rolfsii". Due to which leaves and corm rot.

Prevention - (1) Choose healthy seed tubers for sowing.

(2) Adopt long term crop rotation.

3. Viral disease - This disease causes a lot of damage to the yam. Due to this disease the leaves become curled, due to which food production is hindered. The plant remains small. The growth of roots stops, corm remains small. This disease is spread by aphids.

Harvesting - Yam becomes ready for digging after 7-8 months of sowing. When the leaves of the plants turn yellow and start falling, then it should be understood that the crop is ready. Thus, it is dug out from the last week of November to the first week of December. At the time of digging, it should be kept in mind that the tubers should not be cut. The tubers should be cleaned and stored in an airy room or on a scaffold.

Yield - The yield of   Elephant Foot Yam depends on many factors, the main ones being the fertility of the soil, the variety grown, the method of sowing and crop care. Based on the size of the cube tubers, 500-1000 quintals of yield is obtained per hectare.