Effect of type of tutors and population density on the yield of white yam

(Dioscorea rotundata Poir.)

Abstract

The objective of the present investigation was to determine the effect of three types of tutors (individual tutor, simple espalier and double trellis) and two planting densities (14,285 and 20,000 plants/ha) on the performance of Dioscorea rotundata cv brasileiro. The experiment was carried out under a randomized complete blocks design with arrangement in divided plots with four repetitions. The evaluated variables were: total yield of tubers (kg/ha), yield of commercial tubers, and additionally an economic analysis of the treatments was carried out. The results obtained showed highly signifi cant differences for the sowing density factor. When using the density of 20,000 plants / ha, the highest total yields (26,73 t. ha -1 ) were obtained, generating increases of 9.64% with respect to the lowest density (14,285 plants/ha) for this variable. The combined use of simple trellis and the density of 20,000 plants / ha generated  increases of 9.3% in yield of the tubers.