Yield Performance of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Varieties at Different Levels of Plant Population in Optimum Moisture Areas of Western Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Weres Negash Golla

doi:10.7176/jbah/10-4-03

Abstract

The production of sesame (Sesame indicum L.), an important oil crop produced for export in Ethiopia, is affected by environmental and biotic factors as well as management practices. Determining the optimum plant population in optimum moisture areas for sesame is crucial to boost sesame productivity. A field experiment was conducted at Zuria-Dansha, in optimum moisture areas of western Tigray to evaluate yield performance of sesame varieties at different levels of plant population. The experiment was laid out in RCBD in factorial arrangement with three varieties of sesame (Gida-Ayana, Humera-1 and Hirhr) and four plant population (80,000, 124,444, 250,000 and 666,666 plants/ha) in three replications. The result revealed that varieties and plant population significantly differed in yield and yield related traits. The variety Gida-Ayana recorded maximum fertile capsules per plant, thousand seed weight, seed per capsule and oil content (%) while the local variety Hirhr recorded the least. The yield components like: fertile capsules per plant, seed per capsule and thousand seed weight were highest in the low plant population than highest plant population but oil content (%) was not affected by different levels of plant population. The highest seed yield was obtained from variety Gida-Ayana grown at 250,000 plants (10 cm × 40 cm) which significantly increases yield by 34.75% as compared with local variety Hirhr with the same plant population. Hence, it can be concluded that higher seed yield and oil content (%) of sesame could be obtained by using Gida-Ayana variety sowing at the plant population of 250,000 plants/ha (40 cm × 10 cm) under optimum moisture areas of western Tigray and similar agro-climatic conditions. Keywords : Optimum moisture, performance, plant population, Sesame, Varieties, Yield DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-4-03 Publication date: February 29 th 2020

Highlights

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) otherwise known as sesamum, member of the family Pedaliaceae, is one of the ancient oilseed domesticated and cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world by man for the edible oil and medicinal purposes for more than 5000 years (Khan et al, 2009 and Umar et al, 2010)
The plant population per unit area plays a vital role in determining the final seed yield of crops (Malik et al, 2003) and types of sesame varieties that adapt for that particular area may be critical to boost sesame production
The variety, plant population, and variety by plant population interaction variances were decomposed to provide a general overview in relation to the yield and yield related traits of sesame varieties planted with different plant population

Summary

Introduction

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) otherwise known as sesamum, member of the family Pedaliaceae, is one of the ancient oilseed domesticated and cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world by man for the edible oil and medicinal purposes for more than 5000 years (Khan et al, 2009 and Umar et al, 2010) Though it is a controversy for the origin of sesame, it is believed to be originated in Ethiopia due to existence of both cultivated and wild types in the country (Wijnands et al, 2009). The plant population per unit area plays a vital role in determining the final seed yield of crops (Malik et al, 2003) and types of sesame varieties that adapt for that particular area may be critical to boost sesame production

Methods

Results

Conclusion