REGENERATION POTENTIAL, LEAF AND SEED YIELD OF VEGETABLE AMARANTH, (Amaranthus cruentus (L.) , AS A FUNCTION OF INITIAL TOPPING HEIGHTS

Growth, leaf and seed yield responses to initial heights of topping (3, 10, 15 or 20 cm) of Amaranthus cruentus (L.) cv.
Local directly seeded at 8.3 cm square was subjected to multiple harvesting by cutting 5 times.
Failure to regenerate and subsequent death of plants decapitated 3 cm above ground level suggested a critical dry matter in the stump needed for re-growth.
Although shoot and root dry weights, shoot/root ratios, final plant height and bud number and bud lengths increased with the topping height of initial harvesting, topping above 10 cm tended to postpone flowering.
Root dry weights increased in all treatments as shoot/root ratios decreased to a minimum at the third harvest.
Total leaf and seed yield increased with initial topping heights and were positively and significantly correlated with total plant dry weight attained.
As a dual purpose crop, an initial topping at 20 cm was most suitable.

IX African Symposium on Horticultural Crops

N.A. Mnzava, A.M. Masam

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1985.153.20