| dc.description.abstract | Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production in Kenya is
still restricted to the highlands, and yet its consumption
has spread to almost allover the country including medium
and low altitude areas. An attempt was made to introduce
potato growing in medium altitude areas. The experimental
o
site, Bukura Institute of Agricultur~ is located at 0 13
o I
North and 34 37 East, and is 1463M above sea level.
Two experiments were conducted durinf the,short rains
of 1979 and the long rains o£ 1980 to investigate the
production potential as well as fertilizer requirements of
the potatoes under Bukura conditions. Three potato varieties
namely Anett, Roslin Eburu (B53) and Kenya Baraka representing
early, medium-late and late maturing commercial
cultivars in Kenya were used. Five levels of diammonium
phosnhate were applied at equally spaced intervals starting
from 0 to 600 kg/ha. The 15 treatment combinations were
randomly distributed in each of the three replicates. The
plants were sampled fortnightly for analysis starting from
three weeks after the beginning of emergence.
In terms of tuber yields Anett significantly outy~
elded both B5) and Kenya Baraka during the short rains.
The difference between B53 and Kenya Baraka was not significant.
However, the performance of the crop during this
season was poor mainly due to low rainfall. During the long
rainy season Kenya Baraka was significantly the best yielder.
Anett also significantly outyielded B53 in this season as
well.
The fertilizer level, 300 kg/ha, gave rise to significantly
the highest tuber yield during the short rains,
while the level, 450 kg/ha, resulted in significantly the
highest yield during the long rains. The tuber dry matter
percent of the total fresh tuber yield was not responsive to
the fertilizer treatments in experiment II, but showed slight
decrease with increasing fertilizer levels in experiment I.
The performance of the crop'in terms of leaf area
developed, total and ware tuber yields was far better in
experiment II than in experiment I.
The interaction between variety and fertilizer in
both expetiments was not sicnificant. This was thought to be
so because the fertilizer was applied once at the time of
planting thus providing no advantage for the late maturing
variety, Kenya Baraka, to significantly benefit over the
early maturing variety, Anett.
'The results of these experiments showed that potato
production can be extended to medium altitude tropical areas
provided water and fertilizer supplies are adequate. | en |
