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The Changing Role of Irrigated Colocasia esculenta (taro) on Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands: From an Essential Element of Colonization to an Important Risk-Reduction Strategy
- Asian Perspectives
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 47, Number 1, Spring 2008
- pp. 139-155
- 10.1353/asi.2008.0008
- Article
- Additional Information
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This paper proposes that, on the Marquesan island of Nuku Hiva, wet cultivation of Colocasia taro was important in initial colonization because it was the most energyefficient and fastest-producing crop. In later periods its caloric contribution was eclipsed by breadfruit, but irrigated taro played an important risk-reduction role.