Abstract
A field study was conducted in South-East Hungary during the main cropping season of 2016, 2017 and 2018, with the objective of determining the effect of plant spacing on the productivity of sweet potato. Production technology experiments of four repetitions were set up in a randomized block design on sandy soil. The performed treatments consisted of four variations of plant spacing (row distance x plant-to-plant distance): 80 cm x 20 cm, 80 cm x 30 cm, 100 cm x 20 cm, 100 cm x 30 cm. The plant material was the Hungarian registered sweet potato variety ‘Ásotthalmi-12’. Analysis of variance revealed that planting density significantly affected the average yield of storage roots. The highest yield per plant was achieved with the 100 cm x 30 cm (2016, 2017), as well as with the 80 cm x 30 cm (2018) setups. On hectare level, our results showed that the highest plant density of 62,500 plants ha-1 (80 cm x 20 cm setup) could give the highest yield. Comparing the highest tons ha-1 results to those achieved with the plant spacing setups resulting in the highest yield per plant, the differences can be even 13 or 14 tons at hectare level. This finding underlines the importance of choosing the proper planting density towards the higher end.
Highlights
Batata or sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is a root crop of tropical-subtropical origin which is cultivated in the temperate zone, too
Effect of plant density on the yield per plant The analysis of variance revealed that planting density significantly (P < 0.05) affected the average yield of tuberous roots
In 2017, the yields achieved with 100 cm x 30 cm plant density compared to the other densities were significantly different
Summary
Batata or sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is a root crop of tropical-subtropical origin which is cultivated in the temperate zone, too. Along with several European countries, it has been grown in Hungary for decades, but the increase of its growing area was stimulated by the consumers’ demand in the last couple of years. Sweet potato is an important crop in many parts of the world. It is used as a staple food, but it is an important industrial raw material for animal feed and alcohol production in different countries. In Hungary, sweet potato is cultivated for more than thirty years (Horváth, 1991b,c). From the results of the experiments of Horváth (1991a) it was concluded that sweet potato can be successfully grown in our region. In Hungary, consumers’ demands for sweet potato cannot be fulfilled even though the producers’ interest is intensively increasing. In spite of the published cultivation technology sheets and experiences, yield stability is still not solved, growing site- and genotypespecific advices are still missing
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