Timing of weed control and harvest date effects on potato crop field performance and mineral content.
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is an important vegetable crop that is high on dietary minerals and \nvitamins that are needed by the human body but can be a weak competitor to weeds. The aim \nof the study was to determine the effect of weeds and harvest period on plant growth, yield and \nmineral content of tubers. The experiment was conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s \nUkulinga farm. The experiment had three weeding treatments namely control weed free, weed \nfree till flowering stage then stop and no weeding. And two harvest periods which were early \n(90 days after planting) and late (120 days after planting). The crop was monitored from \nemergence using phenological (plant height and leaf number) and physiological (Leaf area \nindex, Chlorophyll content index, photosynthetically active radiation, stomatal conductance) \nparameters during the growing stage prior to flowering. At harvest, the number of tubers, size \nof tubers and plant biomass were recorded to determine the yield. After yield determination the \npotato samples were taken to the laboratory for mineral content analysis. The results showed \nthat there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the weeding treatments with respect to the \nphenological parameters. The control weed free treatment had the highest plant growth and \nyield while the no weeding treatment had the lowest plant growth and yield. It was also \nobserved that the early harvested tubers were smaller in size while the tubers harvested late \nwere larger in size. This is because the tubers harvested late were given enough time to grow \nand mature. Harvesting early under the no weeding treatment resulted in significantly lower \nyields due to the decrease in tuber mass. There were significant effects of weed control and \nharvest timings with respect to mineral content in tubers. Potassium was found to be the \ndominant mineral element followed by phosphorus. These elements were found in levels that \nwere up to 100 times higher than those of calcium, magnesium and sodium in potato tubers. It \nis concluded that delaying weed control reduces crop performance, yield and mineral content. \nHowever, delaying harvest time may provide an opportunity for the crop to accumulate more \nweight and mineral content in the tubers. \nKeywords: Chlorophyll content index, Tubers, Biomass, Leaf area index, Photosynthetically \nactive radiation, mineral content, yield.
Author: Thobile Siphosethu. Mdima
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3177403674