Effect of bio-stimulants foliar applications on growth, yield, and product quality of two Cassava cultivars

Abstract

BackgroundCassava is a major staple food crop for the people in tropical and sub-tropical areas, a non-traditional vegetable root crop in Egypt. It has important industrial raw materials for the production of starch, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and livestock feed. The current study is evaluating two cassava cultivars: American and Brazilian types under three bio-stimulants: glutamine, lysine, and active dry yeast, as foliar applications. Vegetative growth characters, tuber yield, and its quality as well as chemical contents of cassava tubers were evaluated.ResultsThe results showed that American cassava cultivar recorded the highest vegetative growth characters (plant height, leaves number, main stems, lateral branches, leaf area, and chlorophyll content), tuber yield (number and weight), and tuber quality (length, diameter, dry matter, and tubers-shoots ratio) as well as chemical composition (starch, total carbohydrates, N, P, and K). The foliar application of glutamine at the rate of 200 mg/L increased vegetative growth characters and tuber yield as well as tuber quality and improved chemical contents of cassava tubers. On the contrary, the lowest values of cassava growth and its productivity as well as chemical composition were associated to Brazilian cultivar when foliar sprayed by yeast at the concentration of 2 g/L.ConclusionFrom this study, it could be concluded that American type of cassava is the most suitable under Egyptian conditions, which ranked the first in all vegetative growth characters, tuber yield, tuber quality, and chemical composition, with foliar sprayed by glutamine at the rate of 200 mg/L.