Colocasia esculenta is commonly known as Taro, it is referred to as cocoyam in Nigeria. They are cherished for their rich taste, nutritional and medicinal properties. Every 100 g of taro corms possess 112 Kcal, 26.46 g carbohydrate, 1.50 g protein, 0.20 g total fat and 4.1g fiber (USDA National Nutrient Data Base). Besides its nutritional value, taro is used as a medical plant and provides bioactive compounds used as an anti-cancer drugs. Traditionally, cocoyams are vegetative propagated from tuber fragments, a practice that encourages pathogen distribution. Colocasia esculenta is a widely distributed food crop in the humid tropics and subtropics. Despite of its wide distribution, Taro plants are commonly infected with DsMV and other pathogens. This virus induces conspicuous mosaic, malformation, dwarfing or feathering on leaves in taro. As the results of infection, it reduces the quality and yield of taro production greatly. This virus is thus considered as a major limiting factor in the production of taro. Here plays the importance of tissue culture plays a major role in producing the disease resistant plants round the year with high quality. For rapid multiplication and production of quality planting materials, tissue culture technology offers promising alternative compared to the traditional production methods.
KEYWORDS: Colocasia esculenta, Virus, Pathogens, Conventional propagation, Micropropagation, Yield, Rapid multiplication, Quality
