Cultivation of Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson in Home Gardens in Java
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Jpn. J. Trop. Agr. 46(2) : 94-99, 2002 Information Cultivation of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson in Home Gardens in Java Edi SANTOSA, Nobuo SUGIYAMA*,*3, Adolf Pieter LONTOH *2, SUTORO *2, Shoko HIKOSAKA* and Saneyuki KAWABATA* Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Indonesia * Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan *2 Research Institute for Food Crops Biotechnology, Bogor, Indonesia * 3 The corresponding author Abstract Elephant foot yams are grown as ground-layer crops in home gardens because they are tolerant to low light intensities and low fertility. However, the cultural practices and use of elephant foot yams have not been studied. Therefore, field surveys and interviews of farmers were carried out in West, Central and East Java, and Yogjakarta. The number of home gardens in which elephant foot yams were cultivated was larger in Central Java than in West Java. Farmers use corms and leaves as staple crops and vegetables, respectively, as well as for feedstuffs. Some farmers harvest corms only when rice production is low. Although elephant foot yams play a minor role as food crops, they have a potential as industrial crop because they can be cultivated under the canopy of plantation crops. Key words Elephant foot yam, Home garden, Java ジ ャ ワ の ホ ー ム ガ ー デ ン に お け る ゾ ウ コ ン ニ ャ ク の 栽 培Edi SANTOSA・ 杉 山 信 男*,*3・Adolf Pieter LONTOH*2・SUTORO*2・ 彦 坂 晶 子*・ 河 鰭 実 之*Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogoy, Indonesia*東 京 大 学 人 学 院 農 学 生 命 科 学 研 究 科 〒113-8657東 京 都 文 京 区 弥 生*2Reseaych Institute for Food Cyops Biotechnology, Bogor, Indonesia 要 約 ゾ ウ コ ン ニ ャ ク は低 照 度 に対 して 耐 性 が あ る た め,ホ ー ム ガ ー デ ンの 最 下 層 で 栽 培 され る.し か し,ゾ ウ コ ンニ ャ ク の栽 培,利 用 に 関 す る 研 究 は 少 な い.そ こ で,西 ジ ャ ワ,中 部 ジ ャ ワ,東 ジ ャ ワ お よ び ジ ョ グ ジ ャ カ ル タ州 で ホ ー ム ガ ー デ ン を調 査 し,農 民 へ の イ ン タ ビ ュ ー を 実 施 した.ゾ ウ コ ン ニ ャ ク を栽 培 す る ホ ー ム ガ ー デ ン の 数 は西 ジ ャ ワ よ り も中 部 ジ ャ ワ で 多 か っ た. 球 茎 を 主 食,葉 を 野 菜 と して 利 用 す る ほ か,飼 料 と して も利 用 され て い た.コ メ の生 産 量 が不 足 す る場 合 に の み,収 穫 を行 う農 民 も見 られ た.現 在,食 用 作 物 と して ゾ ウ コ ンニ ャ ク は 重 要 な役 割 を果 た して い な い が,プ ラ ン テ ー シ ョン の 林 床 下 で の 栽 培 が可 能 な こ と か ら,将 来,工 業 用 の原 料 を供 給 す る作 物 と して 有 望 と思 われ る. キ ー ワ ー ド ジ ャ ワ,ゾ ウ コ ンニ ャ ク,ホ ー ム ガ ー デ ン Elephant foot yams (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius Introduction (Dennst.) Nicolson, synonym of A, campanulatus Home gardens can contribute significantly Decaisne) were one of the important staple to the household economy because many kinds foods in the 1940s and 1950s in Java, and were of materials needed for daily life can be cultivated or collected from the forest4). Since produced there. The dominant plants in home the 1960s and beyond, elephant foot yams have gardens are medicinal plants, fruit trees, been consumed only when rice production was vegetables, starchy food crops, spices, and trees low due to the long dry season spells. JANSENet for building materials and fuel woody 10,13)These al.4) reported that 100g of the edible portion plants have different height and light require contains 18 g carbohydrates, l to 5 g protein, 0.4 ments, generating a complex vertical structure to 2 g fat, 0.6 g fiber, 0.6 mg Fe and 434 IU as a whole. Under multi-storied polyculture vitamin A. The energy value is 420 kJ per 100 g. systems, crops at the ground level receive low OHTSUHI8)reported that A. campanulatus corms light intensities. contain starch, but not glucomannan, as reserve The cultivation of tuber crops, such as taro, carbohydrates. Although elephant foot yams are arrowroot, tannia, yams and elephant foot yams, often consumed in certain regions of Java, no is very common in home gardens, because statistical data are available on the production these crops are adapted to low light conditions5). and consumption. The objective of the present Received Oct. 4, 2001 study was to investigate how elephant foot yams Accepted Feb. 15, 2002 are cultivated and used in Java, Indonesia. SANTOSAet al.: Elephant Foot Yams in Home Gardens in Java 95 Fig. 1. Study sites for home gardens where elephant foot yams were cultivated. Materials and Methods Field surveys were conducted in several areas in West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java during May and June, 2000 (Fig. 1). These areas are located on the route explored by OHTSUKI18)to collect Amorphophallus species. At each study site, we interviewed ten farmers about the source of corms, number of elephant foot yam plants grown in home gardens, cultivation methods, area for planting, trees grown over the elephant foot yams, utilization of corms and leaves, cultivation of other tuber crops, methods of harvesting, processing and storage. The weight of the corms and the stem Fig. 2. Locations of home gardens where elephant diameter and height were measured for plants footyams are cultivated. sampled in home gardens. and East Java had compelled farmers to grow Results and Discussion elephant foot yams until recently. Characteristics of home gardens with elephant At the time of the field surveys, most of the foot yams plants in Central Java and Yogyakarta still had Elephant foot yams were cultivated in home green leaves, while the plants were just gardens in 11 of the 18 districts studied (61 %). developing leaves or had lost their leaves in In these 11 districts, 32.7% of the farmers other districts. It is possible that the growth cultivated elephant foot yams on the average. It stage may depend on climatic conditions, appears that the cultivation of elephant foot especially the time of the beginning of the dry yams is more common in Central Java and season. JANSENet al.4)stated that corms enter a Yogyakarta that in West Java (Table 1). KANO6) dormant period at the beginning of the dry reported that rice consumption per capita was season. higher in West Java than in Central and East Home gardens with elephant foot yams Java in the early 1980s, while corn consumption were located in lowlands, riverbanks, uplands, per capita was lower in West Java. He considered and forest margins (Fig. 2). Lowlands are mainly that this situation reflected the high productivity used as paddy fields and fishponds because the of paddy rice due to the well-developed irrigation water-table is high (less than one meter below systems in West Java. Therefore, it was likely ground) and rivers are sometimes flooded. that the low productivity of paddy rice in Central Therefore, it is likely that elephant foot yams 96 Jpn. J. Trop. Agr. 46 (2) 2002 Table 1. Percentage of home gardens growing elephant foot yams, and purpose of growth. Note: S (staple foods), F (making flour), V (vegetables), D (feed for fish or disinfectant for ponds), C (feedstuff for cattle); + present and-absent. are tolerant to the humid soil conditions, but the productivity in these wetlands has to be compared with that in the uplands. Elephant foot yams are usually grown in home gardens as ground layer crops. Plants grown alongside elephant foot yams are shown in Figure 3. Generally, the data revealed that elephant foot yams were cultivated without other species in 36% of the home gardens. ROSMANand RUSLI12)reported that elephant foot yams prefer shaded to open areas. PUSHPAKUMARI and SASIDHAR11)observed that the yield of elephant foot yams decreased when the light intensity decreased. However, SUFIANI16)reported that shading is necessary for Amorphophallus corms to enlarge. Thus, the appropriate light Fig. 3. Plants as shade sources for elephant foot intensity has not been fully determined. yams. Use of elephant foot yams campanulatus var. sylvestris (acrid and wild types) KRISWIDARTI7)and WIDJAJA and LESTER17) and A. campanulatus var. hortensis (non-or less identified two forms of A. paeoniifolius, A. acrid and cultivated types). Farmers plant SANTOSAet al.: Elephant Foot Yams in Home Gardens in Java 97 elephant foot yams without knowledge of acridity. Cultivation methods Furthermore, farmers in Banjarnegara recognize Elephant foot yams are commonly planted that acridity depends on the growth stage; corms in the corners of home gardens, at the edge of are acrid when new leaves develop, and the fishponds, in dumping grounds, etc., as illustrated acridity disappears at the dormant stage. in Figure 4. Farmers usually invest little labor Farmers can easily recognize acridity if they for the growing of elephant foot yams. peel the corms. Therefore, they immerse acrid In Purbalingga, Purworejo and Majalengka, corms in flowing water for two or three days to most of the farmers harvested corms after the reduce the acridity.