Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Horticulture

Committee Chair

Mata-Padrino

Committee Co-Chair

Sven Verlinden

Committee Member

Pena-Yewtukhiw

Abstract

Climate change impacts agriculture and food security across the globe, therefore higher temperatures could increase in the length of the growing period and new crops would take advantages of. Research was conducted in Morgantown, WV in 2022 and 2023 to understand the growth pattern of Taro in West Virginia, and to analyzing the chemical composition of the Taro plant. The experiment was a completely randomized design in direct planting-low tunnel technology (2 replications, and 10- plants/plot), and two fertilization treatments (fertilized and non-fertilized). Spacing was 1 m within and between rows. Data were subjected to ANOVA using SAS. Dependent variables were plant height, number of shoots, width and length of the leaves, fresh and dry weight of corms. The chemical composition of shoot and corms were also determined. In 2022, the fertilized plants showed greater weight per plant than the non-fertilized ones. The plant height, number of shoots, length and leaf width were significantly affected by DAP in 2022. In 2023, both treatments were influenced by DAP and the interaction between treatment and number of DAP. There were no significant differences in leaf dry weight regarding DAP, treatment, and their interaction. However, leaf length, number of shoots, leaf length and leaf width were significantly affected by DAP while leaf width was affected by both DAP and treatment. Therefore, fertilization supports early maturity and that WV climatic conditions are suitable for its cultivation; however, extreme summer conditions may lead to reduced performance with a recommendation for irrigation in future research.

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