Two consecutive experiments were carried out, in the same area, from 11/19/1997 to 08/08/1998 (experiment I) and from 09/01/1998 to 06/06/1999 (experiment II), with taro 'Chinês' (BGH 5928). The experiments consisted of 28 treatments, in a randomized complete block design, arranged in a factorial 4 x 7 (types of seedlings x layers of sugar-cane mulch), with three repetitions. In experiment I the effect of four types of seedlings were evaluated (corm and comels large, medium and small, with 80; 55; 35 and 20 g of medium fresh mass, respectively) and seven thickness of mulch layers on covering (0; 4; 8; 12; 16; 20 and 24 cm). In experiment II the residual effect of the mulch layers used in experiment I was evaluated, the same types of seedlings staying with similar masses. The stand and height of plants, leaf area index (LAI) and final corm yield and classes of cormels were evaluated. Smaller stands were obtained in experiment I and for the type of seedling graded as small cormel, mainly in the absence of mulch. Seedlings with larger masses and intermediate layers of mulch provided more vigorous plants and with higher values of LAI. There was no interaction between mulch layers x types of seedlings, for yield of corm and cormels, in both experiments. In experiment I significant effect was verified for both factors, separately, with larger yield of total and commercial cormels obtained for the type seedling corm (head), followed by large cormel, and mulch layer from 16.4 to 17.4 cm of thickness. In experiment II, an evident effect of types of seedlings with larger yield of total and commercial cormels for the seedlings types corm and large cormel was observed.
Colocasia esculenta; dasheen; eddo; mulch; vegetative propagation
