True potato seed research in Ethiopia and future trends
1995
Lemaga, B. | Gebre, E. | Kassa, B.
To improve the potential of true potato seed (TPS) for potato production in Ethiopia, research on various aspects of TPS has been conducted in two different agroecologies. The results have shown that several open-pollinated (OP) and hybrid progenies gave high yields of fairly uniform tubers, especially in the off-season. During the main rainy season, yields of both progeny types were low mainly because of heavy late blight pressure. The hybrid progenies performed significantly better than the OP progenies in the off-season and the reverse held true during the main season. A comparison of direct field sowing and transplanting revealed that the latter method was advantageous over the former for large-scale planting in the field. In a nursery, however, both methods worked equally well. The optimum age of seedlings for transplanting was found to be a 35 days from sowing. Research on nursery bed management showed that a medium composed of 50 topsoil and 50 decayed farm-yard manure was the most suitable, and the one with 50 topsoil an 50 sand was least suitable. Application of N up to 80 g/m and P up to 70 g/m as a starter fertilizer increased both seedling tuber number and yield. Both seedling tuber number and yield were positively related to seedling population. The performance of seedling tubers in the production of ware potatoes is discussed and the path TPS research should follow in the future is also proposed.
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