Effect of Potassium Levels on Growth and Productivity of Potato Varieties

Potato is one of the priority vegetable crops in the highlands of Eritrea growing as a key component in the livelihood systems of farmers. Potato requires a variety of balanced plant mineral nutrients for growth and development without which yield and qualities of tubers are reduced. Potato growers in Eritrea commonly use Di-ammonium Phosphate, Urea and Farmyard manure while potassium fertilizers are overlooked assuming that the soil is developed from K rich parent material and contains sufficient amount of K to support crop growth. However this assumption is based on the result obtained forty-seven years ago. As a result the yield and quality of potato produced is very low as compared with international standards. Therefore the present experiment was conducted to assess the effect of potassium levels on growth and productivity of potato varieties at Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Eritrea. The experiment was conducted in factorial Randomized Complete Block Design with fifteen treatment combinations of three varieties (Ajiba, Zafira and Picasso) and five potassium levels (0, 75, 150, 225 and 300 kg K2O/ha) replicated thrice. The results of the study showed that both variety and potassium had significant effect on growth and yield parameters. Aerial stem number, leaf number per plant and plant height were increased with increasing K levels from 0 to 150 kg while number of days to maturity was increased in the range of 0 - 300 kg K2O/ha. The result also indicated that variety Ajiba treated with 300 kg K2O/ha produced significantly highest tuber weight (1.14 kg) per plant and tuber yield of 49.38 t/ha. The economic analysis result revealed that maximum gross margin 13,665.816 USD/ha was obtained from the application of 300 kg K2O/ha. On the whole, it gives an impression that using potassium fertilizer according to soil requirements will have good influence on growth and tuber yield.

Effect of Moisture Conservation Methods and Plant Density on the Productivity of Two Maize (<i>Zea mays</i>L.) Varieties under Semi-Arid Tropics of Hamelmalo, Eritrea

The productivity of maize in Eritrea in general and under semi-arid tropics of Hamelmalo in particular is low because of moisture stress. The low moisture content is ascribed to the low and erratic distribution of rainfall, high temperature, lack of suitable varieties, and competition by weeds and low soil fertility. To overcome some of these problems, a field experiment was carried out to assess the effect of moisture conservation methods (MCM) and plant density on the productivity of two maize (Zea mays L.) varieties under semi-arid tropics of Hamelmalo, Eritrea. The experiment was conducted in split-split plot design with three MCM viz tied ridge, ridge and furrow and flat-bed in main plots;two maize varieties viz early local and 04sadve hybrid in sub plots and three plant densities by manipulating the plant to plant distance viz 35 cm, 25 cm and 15 cm at a fixed 75 cm row spacing in sub-sub plots, each replicated thrice. The experiment was focused in addressing the effective moisture conservation techniques, optimum plant density to each variety thus to improve productivity. The crop experienced 10°C to 34.8°C minimum and maximum temperature, respectively and received 429.1 mm total rainfall. The results of the experiment indicated that among all the combinations, 04sadve hybrid variety sown at 75 cm × 25 cm spacing in ridge and furrow method or at 75 cm × 15 cm spacing in tied ridge or flat-bed method and early local variety sown at 75 cm × 15 cm spacing in flat-bed being statistically at par resulted in significantly higher moisture conservation and consequently higher grain yield (4509 kg·ha-1) and higher water use efficiency. It is, therefore, recommended that tied ridge or flat-bed of moisture conservation method at 15 cm plant spacing and 04sadve is preferable to optimize productivity in Hamelmalo area, Eritrea.

Analysis of Diversity among Potato Accessions Grown in Eritrea Using Single Linkage Clustering

Potato is an important cash and food crop, a source of income to many small scale farmers in Eritrea. In the long tradition of potato cultivation farmers have adopted a number of landraces. However, very little is known about their genetic diversity which limits further breeding programs to improve productivity. The objective of the study was to characterize potato accessions grown in Eritrea. A total of 21 accessions collected from farmers and NARI were used in this study for characterization employing 33 phenotypic descriptors. Single linkage (nearest neighbor) clustering method using UPGMA employing Euclidean test was used to yield a dendrogram. The clustering generated three main clusters with further sub clusters. The clustering helped to identify accessions that shared the same characteristics and/or that were closely related and vice versa. It was noted that there was no distinct relationship between the clusters groups and geographic sources of accession. Yet, accessions sharing the same name may not necessarily share the same genetic content. Mean deviation of variables for each group from the total mean indicated that Group III followed by group I showed negative deviation in most of the recorded yield related traits. Group I was particularly affected by the presence of two inferior accessions in the group. On the other hand, Group II accessions showed relatively maximum deviation from the total mean and could be recommended for use as parent for any breeding program in Eritrea.

Potato Seed Supply, Marketing and Production Constraints in Eritrea

Potato is an important vegetable crop in Eritrea contributing significantly to food security. Despite its importance, however, production and thus supply of the crop in the market are limited. The current study is designed to understand the seed supply system, marketing out lets and major production constraints. The survey was conducted in the two main potato producing Zobas of the country (Zoba Maekel and Zoba Debub). Qualitative and quantitative data was generated using focus group discussion (PRA) and semi structured questionnaire, respectively. A total of 20 villages were visited and 138 farmers were interviewed. The finding revealed that there is no standard seed supply system thus majority (91.3%) of the growers purchase seed from open market with a limited supply from the Ministry of Agriculture. Furthermore, about 63% of the farmers from Zoba Maekel reserve their own seed for the next cycle compared to 53.6% from Zoba Debub. It was noted that the Tsaeda embaba variety grows predominantly in the country owing to its yield and resistance. Majority of the growers rely on tuber colour and shape for variety identification, thus over 76% prefer the round shaped and white coloured variety. The potential marketing outlets include wholesale, retailer and direct to consumers. Majority (78.3%) of the interviewed growers indicated that large portion of their produce is marketed via wholesaler followed by retailers (27.5%). Main production limiting constraints are identified as low input supplies, availability and cost of clean seeds, pest pressure while huge market demand and access to transportation are considered as potentials encouraging grower. It is, therefore, recommended that an immediate action to establish sustainable seed supply system is taken into consideration in line with a regular extension service to provide technical advice to growers.