Mashua
Mashua is a cool-temperate herbaceous crop that grows best in the 12–20°C range with 1000–1200 mm of rain, cropping over a 180–240-day season.
How it grows
Mashua is a tuber that forms underground on the plant's roots.
Where Earth's climate suits mashua
Climatic suitability only — scored for every 0.5° of the planet from this crop's temperature and rainfall tolerances (FAO EcoCrop) on AgroClim 1991–2025 normals (AgERA5 temperature, CHIRPS/ERA5 rainfall). It shows where the rain-fed climate permits the crop, not where it is grown today; irrigation lets many crops thrive in drier country than the map suggests (California, Egypt, the Indus and Nile).
Who grows it — and where the climate merely allows it
Climate envelope · FAO EcoCrop
Deep bar = optimal range; pale bar = absolute tolerance. Beyond the pale bar the crop fails. Latitude tolerance ±25° · soil pH 5.3–7.5.
Growing calendar & hazards
An annual cycle of roughly 180–240 days from sowing to harvest, so it is timed to fall within the frost-free, adequately-wet part of the year for the location.
- Hard freeze. Tolerant of chill but killed once temperatures fall below about 0°C.
- Heat. A cool-season crop that bolts or fails in summer heat; best grown in the shoulder seasons or at altitude.