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| Authors: | M.T. Lahai, M.T. Dahniya, A.B. Gbani |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.1994.380.95 |
Abstract:
On-farm trials involving sweet potato management practices were conducted in 8 farms in Sierra Leone during the second season of 1987. The aim was to compare sweet potato root yields under various management practices including recommended and farmers' practices and involving use of fertilizer and different types of vine of different lengths.
The study also assessed the contribution of each recommended practice to the yield gap.
Generally, each type of vine, irrespective of length and fertilization rate gave similar root yields, but plants derived from terminal cuttings gave significantly higher yields than those from basal cuttings.
The recommended practice gave 45% higher root yield than the farmer's practice across farms.
To this yield gap, fertilizer, vine length and type contributed about 26% and 65%, respectively.
The highest contribution to the yield gap obtained from the top cuttings indicates that root yield can be substantially increased in farmers' fields by planting this type of vine, even without fertilization or use of 30 cm long vines.
However, the significant yield response to fertilization at one of the farms with comparatively higher native soil fertility and across farms suggests that this practice can increase root yield in farmers' fields, particularly on less leached soils.
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