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Influence of toposequence position on stem growth, branching habit and root yield of cassava in inland valley ecology
Abstract
Cassava is grown in both upland and inland valley ecologies (IVS).Water table depths in IVS significantly influence the productivity of cassava. A trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of toposequence position in inland valley ecology on stem growth, branching habit and root yield of cassava using a 4 x 4 Latin Square design. There were significant differences among cultivars, toposequence positions, sites and years for stem growth parameters and root yield. High yielding cultivars (TMS 91/02324 and TMS 91/02327) were short and late branching, had one branching level and big stems, while low yielding ones (TMS 4(2)1425 and landrace) were early branching and had up to three branching levels. Cultivars with low branching habit produced higher number of stems than the profuse branching ones. Stem number correlated positively with yield at shallow water table site, indicating its importance as yield determinant in less branching cultivars at shallow water table depth. The number of branching levels and height to second and third branching levels correlated negatively with yield at shallow water table, suggesting that yield reduction due to high number of branches was more severe at shallow than deep water table. Drought stress stimulated forking in less branching cultivars, but reduced branching in high branching ones. Shallow water table and drought stress reduced stem number, stem size, height to forking and plant height, but the reduction was lower for high than low yielding cultivars. Therefore, stem growth parameters were generally higher in the valley fringe with deeper table than in the other positions with shallow water table.
Keywords: Root yield, water table, Stem growth, Branching habit, Cassava, Inland valley
