Abstract:
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important cash and food crop in Ethiopia. However, the
yield of the crop is constrained by a number of factors. Among the constraints, the use of
inappropriate seed tuber size and limited availability of improved varieties are the main ones.
A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different tuber sizes on the growth
and yield of potato varieties and to determine optimum seed tuber size for economical feasible
production of potatoes during the 2022 irrigation season in Banja district. The treatments
consisted of four potato varieties (Belete, Burka, Jalene and Local (Key Dinch) and three
seed tuber sizes: small (25-38g), medium (39-75g) and large (>75g). The experiment was laid
out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications in factorial arrangement.
The collected data on phenology, growth, yield and quality related parameters were analyzed
using SAS (Version 9.4) software. The results showed that varieties and seed tuber size in
their main effects significantly influenced days to 50% emergence, days to 50% flowering,
main stem number per plant, average tuber number per plant, average tuber weight per plant,
yield of very small, small and medium sized tubers, unmarketable tuber yield, specific gravity
and dry matter content. The interaction effect of seed tuber size and variety significantly
influenced days to 90% maturity, plant height, large sized tuber yield, marketable tuber yield
and total tuber yields. Concerning the improved varieties used in the present study performed
well in almost all the tested parameters of potatoes compared to the local variety but local
variety matured earlier as compared to improved variety which is related to early emergence
and flowering. The highest marketable tuber yield (41.75 t ha
-1
) was recorded from the large
tuber sizes of Belete variety, while the lowest marketable tuber yield (11.40 t ha
) was
obtained from a local variety which was planted using a smaller seed tuber size. Based on the
partial budget analysis of the present study, Belete with large tuber size gave the highest net
benefit of 683208.06 Birr ha
-1
with an acceptable level of MRR value of 679.59% for
resource-full farmers. However, Belete with small seed tuber size with a good net benefit of
471835.39 Birr ha−1 and highest acceptable level of MRR of 3783.27% are for resourcepoor
farmers,
can
be
recommended for economical production of ware potatoes in the study
areas. As the results are limited to one season and location, further study over seasons and
locations is recommended in order to generate a more reliable and sustainable result.
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