Abstract:
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important root and tuber crops in Ethiopia in
general and in Amhara Region in particular. Its production and productivity become constrained
by poor agronomic practices and lack of high quality and quantity of seed tubers. The present
study was carried out in Guagussa Shikudad District of Awi administrative Zone, Northwestern
Ethiopia, to determine the effects of intra-row spacing and rate of nitrogen on seed tuber yield of
potato under irrigation in 2019. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block
design with four levels of nitrogen (0 , 40.4, 80.8 and 121.2 kg ha-1
) and three levels of intra-row
spacing (20, 30 and 40 cm) in three replications. Growth and yield related parameters were
collected and analyzed using SAS 9.2 software. Results revealed that both the main and
interaction effects of nitrogen and intra-row spacing significantly (P<0.05) influenced most of
the tested parameters including (day to flowering, day to maturity, plant height, tuber yield). On
the other hand days to 50% emergence and main stem number were not influenced. Generally
increasing nitrogen fertilizer increased Average tuber yield, marketable and seed tuber while
widening the intra row spacing increased tuber number per plant and decreased plant density.
Combination of 80 kg ha-1
nitrogen with 20 cm intra row spacing recorded the highest seed tuber
yield 20.00 t ha-1
, marketable 27.10 t ha-1
and total tuber yields 33.75 t ha-1
. The same treatment
combination also recorded the highest net benefit and marginal rate of return, which can be
recommended for economical production of seed potato in the study area and areas with similar
agro ecology. Repetition of the study in different sites of the study area with different ag