Studies on potentials of the Hausa potato for herbage and tuber production

Abstract

Prolonged production of new leaves in the Hausa potato result in competition for dry matter between the source and the sink. Reducing the foliage may reduce this competition in favour of the growing tubers. This study was aimed to study the potential of cultivating the Hausa potato for herbage and tuber production. Five accessions of the Hausa potato were combined with three rates of pruning and laid out in the field using the randomised complete block design in three replicates. Results showed that the accessions differed significantly in emergence rate as well as in stand count at harvest, length and girth of tuber. The accessions differed significantly in number of tubers per plant and mean weight of tubers, but these were not affected by the rate of pruning. Root-top ratio and fresh tuber yield were affected by the rate of pruning. Significant interactions of accession and rate of pruning were observed in emergence rate, stand count, length and girth of tubers, mean weight of tuber, root-top ratio and total tuber yield. The productivity of the Hausa potato, especially root-top ratio and fresh tuber yield, could be adversely affected by high rate of foliage reduction.