Evaluation of the genetic resources of Colocasia esculenta

The research done in the framework of our thesis focused on the study of the genetic diversity of taro in Burkina Faso and in an international collection using agromorphological and molecular markers. A survey and an ethnobotanical survey showed the existence of at least four local varieties described by farmers and that taro is cultivated in 19 provinces of the country. The study of genetic diversity involved 379 accessions from five continents. The results showed that the genetic base of taro in Burkina Faso was weak despite the agro-morphological variability observed during the agro-morphological characterization done by studying 21 traits. The genetic diversity observed in the international collection would depend on the relative share of clonality and sexual reproduction involved in cultivar management. Sexual reproduction would be important in Asia and Oceania, more limited in the Americas and very rare in West Africa (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria). In addition, accessions from Burkina Faso would be very close genetically to those from Ghana.