EVALUATION OF PLANTING TIME ON TUBERIZATION AND TUBER YIELDS OF FOUR CASSAVA VARIETIES (MANIHOTESCULENTACRANTZ) IN THE LOWVELD OF ZIMBABWE

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Godwin Mtetwa, Farewell Chikambur E, Terence Dube, Monica Mutata

Chiredzi Research Station, P. O. Box 97, Chiredzi. Zimbabwe

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is cultivated for its large starchy storage roots. Understanding root tuberization is essential to secure future yields for farmers. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate time of planting cassava in semi-arid regions of Zimbabwe. Four cultivars of cassava were used M 7; XM 6; MBU/52/B2 and TME 12. Three planting dates, first week of January (mid-summer), first week of May (winter) and first week of September (early summer) were evaluated. Mature cassava cuttings 20 cm long were used as planting materials planted at an angle (slanting). Results showed that planting the first week of January gave significant (p<0.001) larger diameter of tubers at 91st day after planting. The four cultivars did not show any significant tuber diameters at 35th 49th; 63rd and 77th days after planting. Tuberization started 63 days after planting in January and September, whilst in May it started 77 days after planting. Cultivar M7 gave significant thicker tubers p<0.001 at 91st day after planting. Tuber formation and development was significantly slow (p<0.001) with May planting. Cultivar MBU/52/B2 gave significant low tuber yields with May planting compared to other cultivars. Tuber yields at 12 months after planting showed that January planting gave significant (p<0.019) higher yields for both fresh and dry yields.

 Key words: Cassava, planting time, tuberization, cultivars, yield.

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