TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimizing root yield of cassava under fertigation and the masked effect of atmospheric temperature
AU - Omondi, John Okoth
AU - Yermiyahu, Uri
AU - Rachmilevitch, Shimon
AU - Boahen, Steve
AU - Ntawuruhunga, Pheneas
AU - Sokolowski, Eldad
AU - Lazarovitch, Naftali
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: Fertigation is a rare and an expensive method of fertilizer application to cassava, and hence there is a need to optimize its efficiency for profitability. This study's objective was to optimize root yield of cassava through fertigation using a logistic model. RESULTS: The field treatments were six fertigation concentrations against three cassava varieties, selected according to their maturity period. The logistic model predicted 52%, 116% and 281% benefit of fertigation for the varieties Mweru, Kampolombo and Nalumino, respectively. Furthermore, only half of the amount of fertilizer applied for Mweru was required to achieve twice the root yield of Kampolombo. During the experiment, an unknown importance of atmospheric temperature to cassava and its relationship to fertigation was observed. An elevation of 3.7 °C in atmospheric temperature led to 226%, 364% and 265% increase in root yield of Mweru, Kampolombo and Nalumino, respectively. Conversely, shoot biomass and root yield declined when the average atmospheric temperatures dropped by 3.6 °C. However, the cold temperatures affected the short-growth-duration (Mweru) and medium-growth-duration (Kampolombo) varieties earlier, 22 days after the drop, than the long-growth-duration variety (Nalumino) – 50 days after the drop. CONCLUSION: Fertigation induced resilience of the shoot biomass production to cold which was most pronounced in the root yield of Mweru in response to the highest fertigation concentration. Thus, while fertigation improved cassava's resilience to cold, it only did so effectively for short-growth-duration variety, Mweru. Also, enhanced performance of cassava under increased atmospheric temperature indicated its importance as a climate-smart crop.
AB - BACKGROUND: Fertigation is a rare and an expensive method of fertilizer application to cassava, and hence there is a need to optimize its efficiency for profitability. This study's objective was to optimize root yield of cassava through fertigation using a logistic model. RESULTS: The field treatments were six fertigation concentrations against three cassava varieties, selected according to their maturity period. The logistic model predicted 52%, 116% and 281% benefit of fertigation for the varieties Mweru, Kampolombo and Nalumino, respectively. Furthermore, only half of the amount of fertilizer applied for Mweru was required to achieve twice the root yield of Kampolombo. During the experiment, an unknown importance of atmospheric temperature to cassava and its relationship to fertigation was observed. An elevation of 3.7 °C in atmospheric temperature led to 226%, 364% and 265% increase in root yield of Mweru, Kampolombo and Nalumino, respectively. Conversely, shoot biomass and root yield declined when the average atmospheric temperatures dropped by 3.6 °C. However, the cold temperatures affected the short-growth-duration (Mweru) and medium-growth-duration (Kampolombo) varieties earlier, 22 days after the drop, than the long-growth-duration variety (Nalumino) – 50 days after the drop. CONCLUSION: Fertigation induced resilience of the shoot biomass production to cold which was most pronounced in the root yield of Mweru in response to the highest fertigation concentration. Thus, while fertigation improved cassava's resilience to cold, it only did so effectively for short-growth-duration variety, Mweru. Also, enhanced performance of cassava under increased atmospheric temperature indicated its importance as a climate-smart crop.
KW - fertilizer
KW - growth-equations
KW - irrigation
KW - macro-nutrients
KW - models
KW - root-crops
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085936326&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jsfa.10519
DO - 10.1002/jsfa.10519
M3 - Article
C2 - 32419154
AN - SCOPUS:85085936326
SN - 0022-5142
VL - 100
SP - 4592
EP - 4600
JO - Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
JF - Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
IS - 12
ER -