Effects of rain-protected culture in a plastic greenhouse using the whole harvest cultivation method for one-year-old asparagus plants

In Japan, asparagus cropping types can be categorized into open-field culture and semi-forced culture (using a greenhouse). In this study, the whole harvest cultivation method (WHCM) was developed for one-year-old asparagus plants.
In this method, asparagus seedlings were planted in the first year, and all spears from the crowns were harvested in the following spring, without allowing growth of mother ferns.
First-year yield of WHCM was higher than that of conventional cropping types.
The use of WHCM has become more widespread in open-field culture because it is easy, even for beginners.
In this study, the effects of WHCM on growth and yields were compared between semi-forced and open-field cultures to reduce labor and increase yields.
The results showed that total yield, marketable yield, number of marketable spears plant^‑1, and yield above the L-class standard were significantly higher in the greenhouse than in the open field.
Marketable yield was ~3-fold higher in the greenhouse than in the open field.
The number of marketable spears plant^‑1 was >2-fold higher in the greenhouse than in the open field.
Harvesting began 1 month earlier in the greenhouse than in the open field.
An early harvest owing to greenhouse culture increases profits, because the domestic production of asparagus is limited in the early harvest period.
These results suggest that in semi-forced culture, WHCM contributes to increasing asparagus yields and profits.
In the future, we will examine planting density and irrigation conditions, select succeeding crops, and evaluate economic feasibility to disseminate the cultivation method to production areas.

IV Asian Horticultural Congress – AHC2023

S. Yamashita, K. Seimiya, K. Yamafuji, T. Taguchi, S. Motoki

Asparagus officinalis L. yield, cultivation method, harvest period, semi-forced culture, open field, cropping type

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1404.181