Stem portion and number of stakes influence on growth and yield of cassava variety in the South East, Nigeria

Investigations were conducted to study the effect of stem portion and number of stakes per stand on crop establishment, growth and yield of cassava variety NR 8082 in Umudike Southeastern Nigeria during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 cropping seasons. In each year, the experiment was laid out as a 3 × 3 factorial, in randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments consisted of three stem portions of different physiological ages (top, middle and basal) and three numbers of stakes per stand (1, 2 and 3). The middle and basal stem portions significantly increased percent establishment, plant height and leaf area index at 3 months after planting (MAP) but had no effect on number of storage roots per plant. The best stem portion for storage root yield was, however, the top portion which produced the highest yield on average. Number of stakes per stand did not significantly affect stem girth, number of nodes per plant and leaf area index, but the use of 1 stake per stand increased number of storage roots per plant, root weight and storage oot yield in 2017/2018 cropping season. Number of stakes per stand did not significantly influence storage root yield across the two seasons of evaluation. Interactions between stem portion and number of stakes per stand did not significantly affect storage root yield of NR 8082 high cassava variety in both cropping seasons. Based on the findings, the use of 1 stake per stand is recommended for high root yields of NR 8082 cassava variety under conditions of low soil fertility in Umudike, South East Nigeria. Although the top portion enhanced root yield, farmers could use any of the stem portions, since the middle and basal parts gave satisfactory yields and had better establishment than the former.

High yield and pest resistant genotypes of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) for cultivation in Umudike, Southeastern, Nigeria

Newly developed progenies of sweet potato were evaluated to identify promising genotypes with high storage root yield, dry matter, starch content and susceptibility to Cylas spp. at the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Southeastern Nigeria during the 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons to evaluate variation among crosses of different sweet potato families, namely: LigriXFaara (17), LigriXApomoen (9) and LigrixSauti (8), including two check varieties (Umuspo 3 and TIS 87/0087). Analysis of variance, correlation and principal component analysis were employed for data analysis. In this study, four genotypes; LigriXFaara/3 (16.02t/ha), LigriXFaara/2 (14.67t/ha), LigriXFaara/1 (13.66t/ha) and LigriXFaara/6 (10.33t/ha) produced higher fresh storage root yield than the national check (TIS 87/0087). Four genotypes recorded starch content above 50mg100-1; LigriXApomoden/1 (69.71mg100-1), LigriXApomoden/3 (62.98mg100-1), LigriXApomoden/2 (60.89mg100-1), LigriXApomoden/4 (57.53 mg100-1). Among the thirty-four genotypes evaluated, twenty-nine genotypes were susceptible to the attack of C. puncticollis. LigriXFaara/1 recorded the highest attack of C. puncticollis, followed by LigriXApomoden/5, LigriXFaara/4, LigriXApomoden/3, LigriXSauti/3, LigriXFarra/5 while five genotypes; LigriXFaara/4, LigriXFaara/5, LigriXSauti/5, LigriXFaara/8, LigriXFaara/7 and LigriXFaara/14 did not show any sign of vulnerability of C. puncticollis. Promising genotypes that recorded high yield, dry matter and resistance to Cylas spp. could be subjected to advanced yield trail and incorporated into further breeding program.

Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Growth, Yield and Quality of Carrot (Daucus carota L.) cv. New Kuroda

The experiment entitled “Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Growth, Yield and Quality of Carrot (Daucus carota L.) cv. New Kuroda” was conducted during Rabi season of the year 2020-2021 on Department of Horticulture, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology, Prayagraj. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design comprising of 13 treatments each replicated three times. Treatments were randomly arranged in each replication, divided into thirty nine plots. The experiment was carried out with the thirteen integrated nutrient management treatments. Among the treatments, T11 FYM 10 t ha-1+Vermicompost 2.5t ha-1 + Biofertilizer (2 kg ha-1) 75% NPK registered significantly higher plant height (82.95), number of leaves per plant (14.66), root length (10.82), root diameter (3.42), fresh weight of root (67.01), dry weight of root (4.13), root yield plot-1(17.80kg), root yield (455.00q ha-1) and Total soluble solid (9.45 0Brix). Whereas the maximum benefit cost ratio (1: 5.24 & 5.29) was found in T10 and T12.

The Effects of Soil Application of Digestate Enriched with P, K, Mg and B on Yield and Processing Value of Sugar Beets

The aim of this research was to find out if the supplementation of digestate, a by-product of the anaerobic digestion of sugar beet pulp, with phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and boron can improve digestate performance as a soil amendment. The materials of this study were: digestate and sugar beet roots (Beta vulgaris cv. Fighter). A field trial was carried out on sugar beet growth under soil application conditions of solid and liquid digestate fractions with or without supplementation with P, K, Mg and B. It was shown that the root yield obtained from the plots amended with digestate supplemented with P, K, Mg and B was higher compared to the yield of other treatments. Soil amendment with digestate supplemented with P, K, Mg and B affected quality parameters of sugar beet roots. An increase in the following parameters under the effects of enriched digestate application was found: sucrose content, dry residue, pomace content, inverted sugars, α-amino and amide nitrogen fractions, as well as sodium and potassium content. A reduction in the content of conductometric ash was noted but this difference was not proven. The enrichment of digestate with P, K, Mg and B resulted in the beneficial modification of beet roots’ processing parameters with the exception of the predicted content of sugar in molasses. In the case of the liquid fraction and its supplementation with P, K, Mg and B, six among eleven technological quality parameters were increased.

Phenotypic diversity and selection in biofortified cassava germplasm for yield and quality root traits

Increasing carotenoid content and improving other root quality traits has been the focus of cassava biofortification. This study aimed to i) evaluate the genetic variability for total carotenoid content (TCC), as well as for root yield and root quality attributes; ii) estimate potentially useful correlations for selection; and iii) select parents for breeding and estimate the genetic gain. Data from 2011 to 2020 of 265 cassava genotypes with cream and yellow roots were analyzed for dry matter content (DMC), shoot yield, fresh root yield (FRY), dry root yield (DRY), harvest index, average number of roots per plant, starch content, root pulp color, cyanogenic compounds, and TCC. The best linear unbiased predictions showed great phenotypic variation for all traits. Six distinct groups were formed for productive characteristics of root quality, mainly TCC, DMC and FRY. Only TCC showed high broad-sense heritability (\({h}^{2}\)= 0.72), while the other traits had low to medium magnitude (0.21 ≤ \({h}^{2}\) ≤ 0.60). TCC was strongly correlated with pulp color (r = 0.70), but null significance for DMC. The network analysis identified a clear separation between the agronomic and quality attributes of cassava roots. The selection of the 30 genotypes for recombination in the breeding program has the potential to raise TCC by 37.1% and reduce the cyanogenic compounds content by 19.4%, in addition to increasing FRY and DRY by 37.7% and 40.2%, respectively. This is the first consolidated study on the potential of germplasm for the development biofortified cassava varieties in Brazil.

Assessing the Productivity, Quality and Profitability of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Grown in Riverbank of the Tista Floodplain Agro-Ecological Zone of Bangladesh

Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are desirable for high productivity and profitability and their distribution to improve the nutrition of river bank inhabitants of Gaibandha and Rangpur districts of Bangladesh. In this context, a field trial was conducted in two riverbank-based farmers’ fields such as Saghata, Gaibandha, and Pirganj, Rangpur, particularly in the Active Tista Floodplain Agro-ecological Zone of Bangladesh. Four OFSP varieties were evaluated, i.e., G1: BARI SP-8; G2: BARI SP-12; G3: BARI SP-14; G4: BARI SP-15, along with one local cultivar as a control (Red skin with white flesh). Significant variations among the sweet potato genotypes were noted for a number of tuberous roots plant−1, length of root diameter of roots, tuberous root weight plant−1, root yield (fresh), root yield (dry), beta-carotene yield, as well as energy output. Over the locations, BARI SP-12 produced about 73% higher root yield (32.00 t ha−1) and it was like the BARI SP-8 (31.07 t ha−1), which produced about 68% higher yield in comparison with local cultivar (18.51 t ha−1). Across the location, BARI SP-8 performed better in root yield (31.89 t ha−1) in Gaibandha, 69% superior to local cultivar, whereas BARI SP-12 performed better in Rangpur (33.66 t ha−1), which was 86% greater than the local sweet potato cultivar. Considering the root dry yield production, BARI SP-8 produced the highest in the Gaibandha location after that Rangpur location. Further, BARI SP-14 had wider adaptability and stability over the year and location depended on the AMMI model. The beta carotene yield (Vitamin-A precursor) ranged 336–2957 kg ha−1 among the OFSP varieties, whereas the highest (2957 kg ha−1) carotene was recorded in BARI SP-14, similar to BARI SP-15 (2952 kg ha−1) but was much lower in BARI SP-8 and BARI SP-12. Moreover, BARI SP-8 and BARI SP-12 were also economically profitable in terms of gross margin (3233 and 3364 US$ ha−1, respectively), net return (3039 and 3170 US$ ha−1, respectively) and BCR (3.21 and 3.31, respectively, vs. 1.91) due to higher returns with a similar production cost of the local cultivar. The results suggested that BARI SP-8 is economically profitable in the riverbank areas of Gaibandha, and BARI SP-12 is suitable for the riverbank areas of Rangpur.

General and specific combining ability studies of yield and yield character of sweet potato weevil in predominant and non-predominant environments

Combining ability for marketable sweet potato root yield were carried out using ten sweet potato varieties and their F1 hybrids in Cylasformicarius endemic (Landmark University, Omu Aran) and free (University of Ibadan) environments during 2012 cropping season. Both general combining ability and specific combining ability play significant role on traits such as marketable root yield, non- marketable root yield, and total number of storage root/plant and marketable storage root, root size, percentage of tuber damage and weight of total roots, as well as the incidence and severity were generally low, suggesting the role of additive and dominant gene action in tolerances to Cylasformicarius. Hybrids from the parents Resisto, TIS 87/0087 displayed high performance in term of Cylasformicarius tolerance. These parents and their hybrids appeared to have gene pools for Cylasformicarius tolerance that can be manipulated for developing promising hybrids in South west, Nigeria.

Assessment of Radish (Raphanus sativus L.) Cultivars for its Yield and Yield Attributing Characters at Central Mid-Hill (Kathmandu Valley) Conditions of Nepal

A varietal study on five open pollinated cultivars of Radish viz Mino Early, Okura, Pusa Chetki, Forty Days and Miyasige with an objective to find the most superior variety was conducted at Horticultural Research Division, Khumaltar, Lalitpur in winter season for 3 years from 2016 in consecutive years. Mino Early and Forty Days are widely adopted varieties and kept as local check varieties. The trial was conducted under Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. Out of the five cultivars, Okura gave significantly the highest of Root wt. (326 g), Root yield (53.85 t/ha), Root length (25.5 cm), Root diameter (53.9 mm), and Leaf wt per plant. (268 g), Days to harvest (63 days) followed by Miyasige which had Root wt (259 g), Root length (23.4 cm) Root diameter (51.9 mm), Days to harvest (66 days). Okura had 49 percent yield increment followed by Miyasige with 21.9 percent as compared to Mino Early. Hence, these two cultivars are found superior and recommended for cultivation in central mid-hills like Kathmandu valley conditions in Nepal.