Abstract
Lack of improved varieties and production practices have been the major bottlenecks of onion production and productivity in Tigray, particularly at Aksum area. There have been no recommended intra-row spacing and variety for that area specifically; rather farmers used to practice non-uniform plant spacing. Thus, a field experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of intra-row spacing, variety and their interactions on yield, shelf life and bulb quality of onion, thereby recommend the optimum practices to farmers in the study area. The study was conducted between August 2010 and April 2011 at Aksum area (L/maichew district). Three different intra-row spacings (5, 7.5 and 10 cm) were evaluated using four varieties of onion (‘Adama’ Red, ‘Bombay’ Red, ‘Melkam’ and ‘Nasik’ Red) using RCBD replicated four times. Data on yield and quality parameters were recorded and subjected to ANOVA. Results indicate that intra-row spacing of 10 cm was superior in plant height, leaf number per plant, leaf biomass yield, leaf dry matter content and percentage of bolters. Highest total bulb yield was recorded at the closest intra-row spacing (5 cm) followed by 7.5 cm. ‘Melkam’ variety was the highest yielder, while ‘Adama’ Red was the lowest yielder. Average bulb weight increased with increasing intra row spacing. ‘Melkam’ variety followed by ‘Bombay’ Red variety was superior in average bulb weight. ‘Adama’ Red recorded the highest unmarketable yield. Key words: Intra-row spacing, yield, quality, onion varieties, spacing.
Highlights
Onion (Allium cepa L.) belongs to the genus Allium of the family Alliaceae (Hanelt, 1990)
For fresh consumption, the milder ones with lesser TSS in °Brix value are better for use since they have better yield and adaptability advantages at the dryland condition of Tigray in general and Aksum area in particular
Summary
Onion (Allium cepa L.) belongs to the genus Allium of the family Alliaceae (Hanelt, 1990). Onion is considerably important in the daily Ethiopian diet, mostly used as seasonings or as vegetables in stews (MoARD, 2009) It is one of the richest sources of flavonoids in the human diet and flavonoid consumption. The control of plant spacing is one of the cultural practices to control bulb size, shape and yield (Geremew et al, 2010). Market problem and poor cropping pattern are major problems in the study areas due to lack of proper agronomic practice used by farmers (AxARC, 2009). This is because there had been no agronomic or varietal trial done for onion so far at the area especially oriented to quality bulb production. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of different intra-row spacing on the yield and quality of onion varieties
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