Articles
Morphological response of four potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars to different agriculture practices under rainfed production
Article number
1391_18
Pages
131 – 138
Language
English
Abstract
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a critical food and cash crop grown worldwide.
Despite its importance, the productivity of potatoes remains low in under-resourced settings.
The studys objective was to determine the effect of mulching and disease management spraying program on cultivar yields and tuber quality.
Three factors were tested: i) four cultivars, Electra, Sababa, Mondial, and Panamera; ii), two mulch treatments, no-mulch and mulch; and iii) two fungicide applications, no-fungicide and fungicide.) The study was conducted in Swayimane (with three locations), and Appelsbosch (with two locations) in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
Trials were planted in a randomized complete block design.
The final emergence in percentage, the number of stems per plant, canopy cover, yield, biomass, number of tubers per plant, dry matter, and specific gravity were collected.
The final emergence of Electra and Panamera was above 95% across locations, whereas Sababa had the lowest (p<0.001) emergence (80.1-88.7%). Cultivar selection had a significant effect (P<0.05) on the stem count, specific gravity, dry matter, number of tubers per plant, and yield.
The interaction of location × cultivar × fungicide significantly affects (p<0.001) yield, tuber mass per plant, canopy cover, biomass, and the number of stems.
The highest yield was obtained for Electra in Appelsbosch1 having a yield of 60.87 ton/ha under the effect of spraying × mulch, and Sababa had the lowest yield (11.13 ton/ha) under unsprayed × mulch found in Swayimane3. Mondial had the highest dry matter (20.6%) and specific gravity (1.073) found under fungicide × no-mulch in Appelsbosch1. The non-significant effect of mulch on yield can be attributed to abundant rainfall (above 400 mm for both sites), received during the cultivation period.
The interaction of cultivar × mulch × application of fungicide does not significantly affect yields.
The interaction of cultivar × locality and fungicide × locality significantly affected the yields.
All agricultural factors, except for mulch application, impacted yields. ‘Electra’ was found to have the highest yields and stem count among all cultivars.
Therefore, it is recommended for rainfed production with fungicide application in these sites.
Despite its importance, the productivity of potatoes remains low in under-resourced settings.
The studys objective was to determine the effect of mulching and disease management spraying program on cultivar yields and tuber quality.
Three factors were tested: i) four cultivars, Electra, Sababa, Mondial, and Panamera; ii), two mulch treatments, no-mulch and mulch; and iii) two fungicide applications, no-fungicide and fungicide.) The study was conducted in Swayimane (with three locations), and Appelsbosch (with two locations) in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
Trials were planted in a randomized complete block design.
The final emergence in percentage, the number of stems per plant, canopy cover, yield, biomass, number of tubers per plant, dry matter, and specific gravity were collected.
The final emergence of Electra and Panamera was above 95% across locations, whereas Sababa had the lowest (p<0.001) emergence (80.1-88.7%). Cultivar selection had a significant effect (P<0.05) on the stem count, specific gravity, dry matter, number of tubers per plant, and yield.
The interaction of location × cultivar × fungicide significantly affects (p<0.001) yield, tuber mass per plant, canopy cover, biomass, and the number of stems.
The highest yield was obtained for Electra in Appelsbosch1 having a yield of 60.87 ton/ha under the effect of spraying × mulch, and Sababa had the lowest yield (11.13 ton/ha) under unsprayed × mulch found in Swayimane3. Mondial had the highest dry matter (20.6%) and specific gravity (1.073) found under fungicide × no-mulch in Appelsbosch1. The non-significant effect of mulch on yield can be attributed to abundant rainfall (above 400 mm for both sites), received during the cultivation period.
The interaction of cultivar × mulch × application of fungicide does not significantly affect yields.
The interaction of cultivar × locality and fungicide × locality significantly affected the yields.
All agricultural factors, except for mulch application, impacted yields. ‘Electra’ was found to have the highest yields and stem count among all cultivars.
Therefore, it is recommended for rainfed production with fungicide application in these sites.
Authors
N.P.M. Phungula, S. Hadebe, E. Schulte-Geldermann, N.Z. Ngobese
Keywords
agroecology, cultivar selection, food security, productivity, yield
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