Growth and Yield of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott.) as Affected by Planting Distance

Taro, Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott., is a staple food for many people in Africa. Despite the numerous importance of the crop, it still remains an underutilized crop in Ghana with little information on many aspects of the crop, especially agronomic practices. This experiment was conducted to identi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Richard Boampong, Samuel Kwasi Boateng, Richard Adu Amoah, Bright Adu Gyamfi, Lawrence Misa Aboagye, Eric Osafo Ansah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:International Journal of Agronomy
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8863099
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850171129047547904
author Richard Boampong
Samuel Kwasi Boateng
Richard Adu Amoah
Bright Adu Gyamfi
Lawrence Misa Aboagye
Eric Osafo Ansah
author_facet Richard Boampong
Samuel Kwasi Boateng
Richard Adu Amoah
Bright Adu Gyamfi
Lawrence Misa Aboagye
Eric Osafo Ansah
author_sort Richard Boampong
collection DOAJ
description Taro, Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott., is a staple food for many people in Africa. Despite the numerous importance of the crop, it still remains an underutilized crop in Ghana with little information on many aspects of the crop, especially agronomic practices. This experiment was conducted to identify the effect of planting distance on growth and yield of two promising taro accessions. The experiment was laid out using the split-plot design arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications in which accessions (BL/SM/80 and BL/SM/16) were used as main plots and three planting distances (1 m × 1 m, 1 m × 0.75 m, and 1 m × 0.5 m) as subplots. Data were recorded on the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 24th, and 28th week after planting (WAP) for growth parameters while yield data were taken at harvest. The results indicated that plant height (63.4 cm), petiole length (44.0 cm), number of leaves (4.7), leaf length (31.7 cm), and width (20.5 cm) were significantly (P≤0.05) higher in closely spaced plants than widely spaced plants at 4 WAP and 8 WAP for petiole length (70.3 cm) and in the 28th WAP where there was an accession effect on leaf length and number of suckers/plant. The highest corm yield/plant (0.63 kg) and total corm yield/ha (11.7 t/ha) in both accessions were achieved by the medium plant spacing (1 m × 0.75 m) and lower plant spacing (1 m × 0.5 m), respectively. Accession BS/SM/80 recorded the highest total yield/ha of 13.0 t/ha for 1 m × 0.5 m plant spacing. The higher number of suckers (8.1) was recorded by higher spaced plants. From the study, it was seen that growth parameters correlated significantly and positively with yield. It is therefore recommended that farmers in the area and those in similar production areas use a spacing of 1 m × 0.5 m for optimum growth and yield.
format Article
id doaj-art-9cdd3d70425f4dd49f2b5ae1d48c9bd1
institution OA Journals
issn 1687-8159
1687-8167
language English
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Agronomy
spelling doaj-art-9cdd3d70425f4dd49f2b5ae1d48c9bd12025-08-20T02:20:19ZengWileyInternational Journal of Agronomy1687-81591687-81672020-01-01202010.1155/2020/88630998863099Growth and Yield of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott.) as Affected by Planting DistanceRichard Boampong0Samuel Kwasi Boateng1Richard Adu Amoah2Bright Adu Gyamfi3Lawrence Misa Aboagye4Eric Osafo Ansah5CSIR-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, P.O. Box 7, Bunso, Eastern Region, GhanaCSIR-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, P.O. Box 7, Bunso, Eastern Region, GhanaCSIR-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, P.O. Box 7, Bunso, Eastern Region, GhanaCSIR-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, P.O. Box 7, Bunso, Eastern Region, GhanaCSIR-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, P.O. Box 7, Bunso, Eastern Region, GhanaCSIR-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, P.O. Box 7, Bunso, Eastern Region, GhanaTaro, Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott., is a staple food for many people in Africa. Despite the numerous importance of the crop, it still remains an underutilized crop in Ghana with little information on many aspects of the crop, especially agronomic practices. This experiment was conducted to identify the effect of planting distance on growth and yield of two promising taro accessions. The experiment was laid out using the split-plot design arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications in which accessions (BL/SM/80 and BL/SM/16) were used as main plots and three planting distances (1 m × 1 m, 1 m × 0.75 m, and 1 m × 0.5 m) as subplots. Data were recorded on the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 24th, and 28th week after planting (WAP) for growth parameters while yield data were taken at harvest. The results indicated that plant height (63.4 cm), petiole length (44.0 cm), number of leaves (4.7), leaf length (31.7 cm), and width (20.5 cm) were significantly (P≤0.05) higher in closely spaced plants than widely spaced plants at 4 WAP and 8 WAP for petiole length (70.3 cm) and in the 28th WAP where there was an accession effect on leaf length and number of suckers/plant. The highest corm yield/plant (0.63 kg) and total corm yield/ha (11.7 t/ha) in both accessions were achieved by the medium plant spacing (1 m × 0.75 m) and lower plant spacing (1 m × 0.5 m), respectively. Accession BS/SM/80 recorded the highest total yield/ha of 13.0 t/ha for 1 m × 0.5 m plant spacing. The higher number of suckers (8.1) was recorded by higher spaced plants. From the study, it was seen that growth parameters correlated significantly and positively with yield. It is therefore recommended that farmers in the area and those in similar production areas use a spacing of 1 m × 0.5 m for optimum growth and yield.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8863099
spellingShingle Richard Boampong
Samuel Kwasi Boateng
Richard Adu Amoah
Bright Adu Gyamfi
Lawrence Misa Aboagye
Eric Osafo Ansah
Growth and Yield of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott.) as Affected by Planting Distance
International Journal of Agronomy
title Growth and Yield of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott.) as Affected by Planting Distance
title_full Growth and Yield of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott.) as Affected by Planting Distance
title_fullStr Growth and Yield of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott.) as Affected by Planting Distance
title_full_unstemmed Growth and Yield of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott.) as Affected by Planting Distance
title_short Growth and Yield of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott.) as Affected by Planting Distance
title_sort growth and yield of taro colocasia esculenta l schott as affected by planting distance
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8863099
work_keys_str_mv AT richardboampong growthandyieldoftarocolocasiaesculentalschottasaffectedbyplantingdistance
AT samuelkwasiboateng growthandyieldoftarocolocasiaesculentalschottasaffectedbyplantingdistance
AT richardaduamoah growthandyieldoftarocolocasiaesculentalschottasaffectedbyplantingdistance
AT brightadugyamfi growthandyieldoftarocolocasiaesculentalschottasaffectedbyplantingdistance
AT lawrencemisaaboagye growthandyieldoftarocolocasiaesculentalschottasaffectedbyplantingdistance
AT ericosafoansah growthandyieldoftarocolocasiaesculentalschottasaffectedbyplantingdistance