Influence of Treatment of Seed Potato Tubers with Plant Crude Essential Oil Extracts on Performance of the Crop

Abstract

Farmers in most developing countries store seed potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers in traditional storage that invariably leads to rapid deterioration in the quality of the seed tubers due to sprouting and aging. Thus, potato seed tubers senesce and are past their prime when planted. A pot experiment was conducted at Sirinka Agricultural Research Centre, in north eastern Ethiopia, to evaluate the effect of treating seed potato tubers with crude plant essential oil extracts, on the growth and yield of the potato crop. Treatments consisted of seed potato tubers treated with dill weed, spearmint, black cumin and eucalyptus crude essential oil extracts, each applied at 45, 90 and 135 mg kg^-1 of potato tubers for one month, plus a control treatment. The control consisted of untreated tubers. Results revealed that potato plants grown from seed tubers treated with oil extracts from dill weed, spearmint, and eucalyptus at 135 mg kg^-1, took the longest time to sprout, flower, and tubers to mature. Potato plants grown from seed tubers treated with dill weed, spearmint, black cumin and eucalyptus crude essential oil extracts at 135 mg kg^-1 were 23 - 38% taller than plants from the untreated seed tubers. Similarly, potatoes from these treatments had 21 - 89% more numbers of leaves compared to plants from the untreated seed tubers. Crude essential oils from dill weed at the concentrations of 90 and 135 mg kg^-1 and eucalyptus at 135 mg kg^-1, had the greatest positive effects on growth and yield of the potato crop.

Keywords: Black Cumin, Dill Weed, Eucalyptus, Solanum tuberosum