Evaluation of underutilized Ethiopian potato (Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew) accessions in Oromia regional state, central Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopian potato (P. edulis) is an endemic tuber crop species, which belongs to the Lamiaceae family, locally known as Ethiopian potato as the common name, and Oromo Dinch as a vernacular name in the Oromia region. The study aimed to evaluate P. edulis accessions to identify better physical adaptability potential and high yielding in the central highland of Ethiopia. Twenty promising P. edulis accessions were planted in a 3.5 m × 3 m plot area by using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replication. In the present study, the measured agronomic parameters of individual accession were varied in the range of plant height (59.10–95.12 cm), number of stems per hill (2.24–4.73), stem girth (2.0–3.25 cm), number of node per plant (18.13–26.16), stem internode length (2.95–4.26 cm), number of branch/plant (13.53–23.94), leaf length (8.5–12.89 cm), leaf width (2.3–3.70 cm), leaf area (20.15–47.12 cm2), days to flower initiation (110.20–158.40), days to flowering (124.30–168.60), flower length (9.50–18.24 cm), number of tuber/hill (28.40–143.26), tuber diameter (13.57–22.38 cm), tuber length (13.18–17.39 cm), tuber weight/hill (0.30–1.64 kg), tuber yield (9.94–54.69 tonne/ha), and marketable tuber weight (9.49–54.4 tonne/ha) were recorded. From this study, eight accessions: PE001, PE003, PE005, PE006, E007, PE009, PE010, and PE011 were identified as those that revealed better physical adaptation and produced the highest tuber yields (>40 tonne/ha), and the highest marketable tuber yield (>40 tonne/ha). Therefore, these accessions are suggested for production and scale-up by producers in the central highland of Ethiopia, and other similar areas of agroecological zones.