The intercropping system can cause shading of one associated crop, leading to morphological, anatomical and yield changes in the shaded crop. The taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] crop, is a long cicle Araceae species, that is difficult for cultivated in small properties. The association of taro plants with other crops is an option in these situations. However defining the tolerance level of taro plants to shading is an important point to design the associated system. The aim of this work was to evaluate quantitative anatomical characteristics in taro 'Japonês' leaves and rhyzomes. In order to understand the yield decrease in intercropping with other taller species taro plants were grown under 0%, 18%, 30% and 50% of shading. The increase on shadding induced changes in cells and tissues proportion, such as a reduction on leaf thickness, palisade parenchyma and aerenchyma thickness and on stomata density. It is concluded that taro plants show leaf anatomical plasticity under different shade levels, what probabily changes the photosynthetic capacity and photosynthate distribution in vegetative organs.
Colocasia esculenta; quantitative anatomy; light level; starch
