Effect of inter and intra row spacing on yield and yield components of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) AT ofla woreda, northern ethiopia

Abstract

A 4x4 factorial experiment arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications was conducted at Ofla Woreda, Southern Zone of Tigray from December 2010 to April 2011 to assess the effect of inter-row and intra-row spacing on yield and yield components of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Four different intra-row (20, 25, 30 and 35 cm) and inter-row (65, 70, 75 and 80 cm) spacing were used in the experiment. The result revealed that inter and intra-row spacing significantly (p<0.001) affected total tuber number ha-1 , the maximum total tuber number (532,865 and 558,174) was recorded at 65 and 20 cm inter and intra-row spacing, respectively. While the lowest (447,586 and 430,311) at 80 and 35 cm inter and intra row spacing, respectively. Inter and intra-row spacing significantly affected total tuber yield ha-1 , the maximum tuber yield (36.89 and 37.54 ton ha-1 ) was recorded at 65 and 20 cm inter and intra-row spacing, respectively, while the lowest (31.87 and 29.38 ton ha-1 ) was recorded at the widest (80 and 35cm) inter and intra-row spacing, respectively. Significantly maximum marketable tuber number (485,144 and 501,651 ha-1 ) was obtained at 65 and 20 cm inter and intra-row spacing, respectively. Inter and intra-row spacing also showed significant effect on marketable yield ha-1 , the maximum marketable yield (35.89 and 35.09 ton ha-1 ) was recorded at 20 and 65 cm intra-row and inter row spacing, respectively. Interaction of inter and intra-row spacing significantly affected unmarketable yield ha-1 . The maximum unmarketable yield (2.403 ton ha-1 ) was recorded by combination of 65 and 20 cm between row and within-row plant spacing. While the lowest unmarketable yield (0.24 ton ha-1 ) was recorded by the combination of 80 and 35 inter and intra-row spacing. Total yield per hectare was highly and positively correlated with marketable yield per hectare (r=0.99***), total tuber number per hectare (r=0.64**) and number of marketable tuber ha-1 (r=0.55**). Significantly (p<0.01) the highest leaf area index (3.21) was recorded at 20 cm intra-row spacing, while the lowest (2.32) was obtained at 35 cm spacing. Similarly leaf area index was highly and positively correlated with tuber yield ha-1 (r=0.71**), total tuber number ha-1 (r=0.61**), marketable yield ha-1 (r=0. 0.69**), number of marketable tuber ha-1 (r=0.55**). The result of this study verified that yield and yield components of potato are influenced by different inter-and intra-row spacings. From this study, it can be concluded that the narrow spacing (20 and 65 cm intra and inter-row spacing) produced higher yield and marketable yield per hectare than other spacings. Thus, potato (Jalenie variety) growers in the study area (southern zone of Tigray) can be benefited if they use this narrow spacing (20 and 65 cm intra and inter-row spacing