Evaluation of Four Potato Varieties for Stem Height, Late Blight, Yield and Taste Qualities at Kabwum District in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea

Select Volume / Issue:

• Volume 8,Issue 6,Nov. 2021

Year:

2021

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

Potato Variety, Stem Height, Late Blight, Tuber Yield and Taste Qualities

Authors:

Anton, Jonah; Ahizo, Jeremiah; Sitang, Kud

Journal:

IJRAS

Volume:

8

Number:

6

Pages:

231-238

Month:

November

ISSN:

2348-3997

Abstract:

The potato late blight (PLB) disease outbreak in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2003 had severely devastated the production of the commonly grown Sequoia potato variety. Kabwum district in Morobe Province was one of the potato producing regions that was affected by this epidemic. The district had limited or no access to seed sources and appropriate technologies to control the adverse effects of the late blight. This reduced both food supply and cash income for potato growers. This study was designed to evaluate four PLB-resistant potato varieties at three different sites in Kabwum to assess the stem height, PLB, yield, fresh tuber and taste qualities. The experiment was carried out using a Complete Randomized Block Design with three replicates. Stem heights of variety E24, Kumdi and E2 were significantly high compared to E11 at 49–70 days after planting (DAP). The same three varieties were highly resistant to PLB disease, whereas E11 attained a 90 % resistance level. Marketable, seed and total tuber number plant-1 and yield tons per hectare (t ha-1) of these three varieties were significantly higher compared to E11. Similarly their fresh tuber morphological features and taste qualities were preferred by the Kabwum farmers. Variety E24, E2, and Kumdi were observed to be suitable for Kabwum agro-climatic conditions. Additional research over consecutive production cycle is needed to further strengthen the findings of this study.

Full text: IJRAS_1015_FINAL.pdf