Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is a root crop grown widely in the tropics. Its use as animal feed was studied by N. M. Anigbogu at the Federal University of Agriculture in Nigeria (Tropical Root and Tuber Crops Bulletin, March 1997, Vol 9, #2, pp. 13-16).
Taro is popular with farmers for several reasons. “It grows relatively well in poor soil, is easy to plant, requires little attention, withstands droughts and short periods of floods, and yields well compared to many other crops.” One use of taro is as a livestock feed. “The average tuber yield of taro is about 6t/ha. Despite its low yield, it produces more per hectare per day than cereals.
The taro used in the study was sliced and dried on metal roofs for three days. While drying it was periodically turned. The nutritional values of dried taro root compared to corn (maize) are impressive:
Proximate
|
Taro |
Maize |
| Crude protein | 28.3 | 12.5 |
| Crude fiber | 18 | 4.0 |
|
Metabolizable energy (Kcal) |
18,560 | 4,718 |
| Ca | 0.66 | 0.028 |
| P | 1.27 | 0.41 |
| Lysine | 37 | 3.8 |
Cite as:
ECHO Staff 1997. Taro Tuber Processing For Animal Feed. ECHO Development Notes no. 58