Sree Kiran Arbi Seed — Sowing & Yield Guide

Quick facts

Crop: Arbi (Taro)
Type: Corm / cormel (vegetative)
Season: Kharif
Maturity period: 190–210 days
Seed rate: About 1 tonne of cormels per hectare at 60 x 45 cm, or 1.5 to 2 tonnes at 45 x 30 cm. Best cormel size is 35 to 45 g (CTCRI taro bulletin).
Expected yield: 17.5 t/ha usual, 28.5 t/ha potential (CTCRI)
Suitable soil: Loam
Disease resistance: No specific resistance claimed
Release: Released 2004 by ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

About this variety

Sree Kiran is the first hybrid taro (Colocasia esculenta) variety released in India, bred by ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, from the cross C-303 × C-383, and released in 2004. It grows into a semi-erect, medium-tall plant (70–80 cm) with a greenish-brown petiole and a moderately flowering habit, taking 190–210 days to mature. Its oval corms carry light-brown skin and white flesh, and CTCRI's own variety record lists 17.5 t/ha as its current farm-level yield with a potential of up to 28.5 t/ha under good management. Its standout trait is post-harvest keeping quality: the cormels hold for about 60 days after lifting, well beyond what most taro varieties manage, which matters for a crop that otherwise has to move to market within weeks of harvest.

Should you pick this variety?

Choose Sree Kiran if you cannot sell all your cormels in the first week after digging. CTCRI says they keep about 60 days, which is the top end for taro (the CTCRI taro bulletin puts taro in general at 1 to 2 months). Do not choose it because of the 28.5 t/ha figure. That is the potential. CTCRI's own average is 17 to 18 t/ha, so plan on that. Also do not pick it for a field with a blight history: CTCRI does not list Kiran as blight tolerant, and the bulletin names Muktakeshi, Bhu Sree and Bhu Kripa for that job.

Sowing & cultivation

Sowing timeKerala: rainfed April to June, irrigated January to March (CTCRI taro bulletin).
Seed rateAbout 1 tonne of cormels per hectare at 60 x 45 cm, or 1.5 to 2 tonnes at 45 x 30 cm. Best cormel size is 35 to 45 g (CTCRI taro bulletin).
Spacing60 x 45 cm, cormels set 5 to 10 cm deep.
FertilizerFor Kerala: 12 t/ha FYM and 80:25:100 kg/ha N:P2O5:K2O. All phosphorus at planting; 1/3 of the nitrogen and potash 2 weeks after sprouting and the rest in 2 equal doses a month apart (CTCRI).
Harvesting190 to 210 days (variety page) or 6 to 7 months (bulletin). About 1 month before digging, wrap the suckers round the base, earth up and stop irrigation (CTCRI).

Full Arbi (Taro) growing guideSowing time, nutrients, irrigation, pests, costs and prices for Arbi (Taro) as a whole crop. This is the advice that holds for every variety.

Soil & climate

Soil

pH: 5.5–7.0

Climate

Temperature: 21–27°C mean

Advantages & considerations

Why farmers may choose it

India's first hybrid taro variety, with a clear pedigree (C-303 × C-383) from a national research institute
Unusually long post-harvest keeping quality — about 60 days — which eases marketing pressure compared with most taro
Wide yield range (17.5–28.5 t/ha) gives real headroom under improved management

Things to consider

No specific leaf-blight or mosaic resistance is claimed for Sree Kiran — scout and manage disease as for a standard variety
Recommended primarily for Kerala conditions; performance in other states is not separately documented here

Suitable regions

States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.

Kerala

What 60 days of keeping is worth to you

CTCRI says Sree Kiran cormels keep about 60 days after digging. In the same CTCRI taro bulletin, taro in general keeps 1 to 2 months. So Kiran sits at the top of the usual range. It is a gain of some weeks, not a different class of crop, and you should plan on that.

What weeks buy you is choice. You can sell in 2 or 3 lots instead of one, and you can wait out a bad price in the week of digging. To get the full benefit, follow the bulletin: remove damaged tubers at harvest, dry the rest for a day in shade, brush off the soil, and keep them in a ventilated shed. Cut or bruised cormels rot first.

Test it before you count on it. Keep 20 kg in your own shed and look at it every week. Note when the first cormels soften and how much you lose. Your humidity may give a shorter figure than CTCRI's. Seed cormels are handled differently: cure them for 10 to 15 days in shade first.

Can you keep your own planting material?

This crop is grown from tubers, so your own field can supply next season. Keep medium-sized, firm tubers from healthy plants, store them cool and dark, and throw out anything soft or rotting — the disease travels inside the tuber. Replace your stock with certified planting material every few seasons, because virus builds up quietly year after year.

How it compares with other varieties

Every Arbi (Taro) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.

Variety	Best for	Maturity	Yield	States
Panchamukhi	Farmers whose buyers pay for big mother corms rather than small cormels	Not published (taro in general: 5 to 8 months, CTCRI)	20.00 t/ha corm yield in a 40-cultivar trial (mother corm, not cormel yield)	West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha
Punjab Arvi-1	Punjab farmers who want an early taro and can buy heavy seed cormels	176 days	About 225 q/ha (22.5 t/ha), PAU release figure	Punjab
Sree Hira	Odisha farmers with leaf blight on rainfed upland or irrigated medium and low land	About 180 days (6 months)	About 18 t/ha (leaflet); 18 to 20 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin)	Odisha
Sree Kiranthis page	Kerala farmers who cannot sell the whole crop in one week and want a taro that keeps	190–210 days	17.5 t/ha usual, 28.5 t/ha potential (CTCRI)	Kerala
Sree Pallavi	Kerala farmers with a leaf blight or mosaic history who sell small cormels	7 months (about 210 days)	16 t/ha usual, 18 t/ha potential (CTCRI)	Kerala
Sree Rashmi	Kerala smallholders who want a non-acrid taro that does not need heavy inputs	210–240 days	18 to 20 t/ha usual, 32 t/ha potential (CTCRI)	Kerala

Other Arbi (Taro) varieties in the finder, for comparison.

Tools for this crop

The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Arbi (Taro) is selling for.

Subsidy and government support

Schemes that help with the cost of Arbi (Taro) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Sree Kiran a hybrid, and can I save its cormels to plant?

It is India's first hybrid taro, from the cross C-303 x C-383, released by CTCRI in 2004. Taro is not grown from seed. Every cormel is a cutting of the mother plant, so saved cormels give you the same variety. Save them only from a crop that stayed free of disease. CTCRI says to cure them in shade for 10 to 15 days, remove damaged ones and store seed cormels for 2 to 3 months.

How long does Sree Kiran take to mature?

CTCRI gives 190 to 210 days on its variety page and 6 to 7 months in its taro bulletin. Dig when most of the leaves turn yellow. About 1 month before digging, CTCRI says to wrap the suckers round the base of the mother plant, earth up, and stop irrigation. That stops new growth and helps the crop mature.

How much will Sree Kiran yield?

CTCRI lists 17.5 t/ha as the usual yield (17 to 18 t/ha in the bulletin) and 28.5 t/ha as the potential. Taro in general gives 10 to 25 t/ha, depending on variety, spacing, water and soil fertility. The bulletin also says that a crop short of water makes more mother corm and fewer cormels, while a crop with no stress makes 3 or more cormels for each corm.

Can I grow Sree Kiran outside Kerala?

CTCRI lists Kerala as the recommended state. We found no trial of Sree Kiran in another state, so there is no figure to quote. If you want to try it elsewhere, plant 20 to 30 cormels beside your local type for one season and compare yield and rot. Use your own state's planting month from the CTCRI table, not Kerala's.

What fertiliser does Sree Kiran need?

CTCRI gives no dose for Sree Kiran alone. For Kerala it recommends 12 t/ha of FYM and 80:25:100 kg/ha of N:P2O5:K2O. Put all the phosphorus at planting. Give 1/3 of the nitrogen and potash 2 weeks after sprouting and the rest in 2 equal doses a month apart. Outside Kerala the bulletin's state table gives other doses, for example 80:60:80 for Odisha, Bihar, Assam and Jharkhand.