Sree Rashmi
A CTCRI release valued for its non-acrid corm with good cooking quality and taste, and for performing well under relatively low input levels — a good choice where acridity has been a market complaint.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Arbi (Taro)
- Type
- Corm / cormel (vegetative)
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 210–240 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
- 18 to 20 t/ha usual, 32 t/ha potential (CTCRI)
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Field tolerant to Dasheen mosaic virus; moderately susceptible to leaf blight (CTCRI bulletin)
- Release
- Released in 1987 by ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, selected from indigenous germplasm
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Sree Rashmi is a taro (Colocasia esculenta) variety that ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, selected from indigenous germplasm and released in 1987. The plant is erect and tall (100 to 150 cm). It has a big cylindrical corm and medium-sized conical cormels, with brown skin and white flesh. It takes 7 to 8 months to mature. CTCRI's variety page gives 18 t/ha as the usual yield and 32 t/ha as the potential, and its bulletin gives 18 to 20 t/ha, about 15% starch and 2.3 to 2.7% protein. The leaves, petioles, corms and cormels are listed as non-acrid, and cooking quality is good. CTCRI says it gives an economic yield on low inputs. It is field tolerant to Dasheen mosaic virus, but the bulletin rates it moderately susceptible to leaf blight.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Sree Rashmi when the complaint you hear is itching. CTCRI lists its leaves, petioles, corms and cormels as non-acrid and says it gives an economic yield on low inputs. Do not choose it for a blight-heavy field. The CTCRI bulletin rates it moderately susceptible to leaf blight. Do not plan on 32 t/ha either. That is the potential, and CTCRI's usual figure is 18 t/ha (18 to 20 in the bulletin). It is also the slowest of the three CTCRI releases here, at 7 to 8 months. For a field with a blight history, look at Sree Pallavi.
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). CTCRI says it gives an economic yield on low inputs, but gives no lower dose.
- Harvesting7 months (variety page) or 7 to 8 months (bulletin). About 1 month before digging, wrap the suckers round the base, earth up and stop irrigation (CTCRI).
Soil & climate
Soil
- pH
- 5.5–7.0
Climate
- Temperature
- 21–27°C mean
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Documented non-acrid corm with good cooking quality — a direct answer to the acridity complaint that limits taro's market acceptance
- Performs reasonably under relatively low input levels, useful for a smallholder with limited fertiliser and irrigation budget
Things to consider
- Longest duration among the varieties recommended here (210–240 days) — ties up land for longer than Sree Hira or Punjab Arvi-1
- CTCRI's bulletin rates it moderately susceptible to leaf blight. Scout every week in a humid spell and use clean cormels
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Kerala
What "non-acrid" means for your kitchen and your buyer
The itch in taro comes from calcium oxalate crystals. The CTCRI bulletin gives total oxalate in fresh cormels as 165 to 232.5 mg/100 g in acrid taro and 47.5 to 82.5 mg/100 g in non-acrid taro. CTCRI lists Sree Rashmi's leaves, petiole, corm and cormels as non-acrid. The bulletin gives no separate oxalate figure for Rashmi, so these ranges are the guide, not a measurement of Rashmi.
Non-acrid does not mean raw-safe. The bulletin says boiling, blanching, steaming, frying and pressure cooking all reduce the irritant. So keep telling buyers and your family to cook it fully. What non-acrid does give you is a margin: a little under-cooking is less likely to hurt.
Check this on your own produce before you plant an acre. Cook a pot of Rashmi cormels, give it to 5 households that complain about itching, and ask what they say. If they buy it again, you have your answer. If your buyer pays the same price for any taro, the longer crop time (7 to 8 months) may not pay you back.
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 Kiran | 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 Rashmithis page | 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 |
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.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Arbi (Taro) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Arbi (Taro) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Arbi (Taro) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Arbi (Taro) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
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 Rashmi really free of itching?
CTCRI lists the leaves, petiole, corm and cormels as non-acrid. The bulletin gives total oxalate of 165 to 232.5 mg/100 g in acrid taro and 47.5 to 82.5 mg/100 g in non-acrid taro, but it gives no separate figure for Sree Rashmi. Cook it fully anyway. Boiling, steaming and frying lower the irritant in any taro.
Can I grow Sree Rashmi with little fertiliser?
CTCRI says it gives an economic yield under low-input conditions, but it does not say what a low input is in kg. The same bulletin says taro responds strongly to fertiliser, especially potash. Do not drop the FYM and potash altogether. Cut the dose, not the practice, and try it on part of the field first.
How much will Sree Rashmi yield?
The CTCRI variety page gives 18 t/ha and a potential of 32 t/ha. The taro bulletin gives 18 to 20 t/ha. Use 18 for your plan. An older portal listing of 15 to 20 t/ha is lower than CTCRI's own figure, so we have not used it.
Does Sree Rashmi get leaf blight?
The CTCRI bulletin rates it moderately susceptible to leaf blight, and field tolerant to Dasheen mosaic virus. In a humid monsoon, scout the leaves every week. Use clean cormels, take off infected leaves, mulch with paddy straw and rotate with a crop such as okra. The varieties the bulletin names as blight resistant are Muktakeshi, Bhu Sree and Bhu Kripa.
Where was Sree Rashmi selected, and will it suit my state?
CTCRI selected it from indigenous germplasm and released it in 1987. Kerala is the recommended state. We found no trial in any other state. If you farm elsewhere, test a small plot against your local taro for a full season before you plant more.
Sourced from: Taro — ICAR-CTCRI technical bulletin (2025): varieties, planting, nutrition, storage, Sree Rashmi — ICAR-CTCRI variety page. editorial policy.