The influence of bulb size and bulb cutting on the growth and yield of shallots (Allium cepavar.AggregatumG.Don.) in Ghana

Abstract

SummaryThe effects of shallot mother bulb diameters (small, 1.5 cm, 2.2 cm, 2.5 cm) and mother bulb cutting (involving bulb tissue removal) on plant growth and daughter bulb yield were investigated in Ghana in 1977 and 1978. Bulb yield, rates of sprouting and the number of leaves which developed were enhanced as mother bulb size increased. Cutting mother bulbs raised the rate of sprouting during the initial stages of plant growth but was generally detrimental to leaf emergence and bulb yield. Medium-sized mother bulbs produced the best daughter bulb size distribution.