Taro is one of the world’s oldest food crops, dating back over 9,000 years. This ancient crop, first domesticated in Southeast Asia, has continued to spread throughout the world and is now an important crop in Asia, Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean. It is a crop that has been maintained by farmers for millennia and taro genetic resources have remained largely under the control of local communities. The history of its adaptation, use and diversification can teach us many things about using and conserving genetic resources. Much has been written, from different disciplinary perspectives, on the uses and distribution of taro in specific countries and regions. This book on taro is among the first to offer a global approach, covering all regions, disciplinary perspectives and uses of the plant. Our contributors from different disciplines and geographic regions offer the reader a multidisciplinary and evolutionary perspective on taro that shows how one of the world’s oldest domesticated plant species continues to evolve and acquire new uses. The book also demonstrates how the story of taro can serve as a model for the in situ conservation and use of a staple crop whose global importance is evidenced at the local level in traditional food systems, and not in global commodity markets or trade.

Worldwide, taro ranks fourteenth among staple vegetable crops with about 12 million tonnes produced globally from about 2 million hectares with an average yield of 6.5 t/ha.(FAOSTAT 2010 estimates). Its corms are baked, roasted, or boiled and the leaves are frequently eaten as a vegetable and represent an important source of vitamins, especially folic acid. The blades and petioles of leaves can be preserved or dried, and are an important food in times of scarcity. Petioles and stolons are also eaten fried or pickled. The inflorescence (a flowering stalk) is a delicacy in some food cultures of Asia and the Pacific. The corms and leaves are also used for medicinal purposes. Taro in many cultures is a sacred plant with high prestige and strong cultural and symbolic importance–it may be presented on formal occasions, in domestic or agricultural rituals, in religious and other feasts, and as bride price or compensation.