Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) growth and yield response to inflorescence removal and seed tuber size in Girar Jarso District, Central Ethiopia

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important food security crop in Ethiopia. The low yield is caused in part by farmers using non-essential seed tuber size and poor agronomic management. This study aimed to examine the effects of seed tuber size and inflorescence removal on yield components and potato yield. A field experiment was carried out at the experimental site of General Tadese Biru Campus, Salale University. Three levels of inflorescence removal and seed tuber sizes each comprised the treatments. The RCBD with a 3x3 factorial arrangement and 3 replications was used for the study. The R software version 4.03 was used to experiment with data. The experimental results showed that the interaction of big seed tuber size and flower bud removal led to the highest total tuber yield (34.64 t ha-1). Large seed tuber size (46-55 mm) and inflorescence removal led to the highest marketable tuber yield (28.59 t ha-1). Marketable tuber yield correlated positively with steam number, plant height, tuber number, tuber yield, tuber weight, tuber diameter, tuber length, and total tuber, but negatively with days to emergence. As a result, big seed tuber size and inflorescence removal were preferable in terms of all yield-contributing characteristics and tuber yield, and medium seed tuber size was beneficial to the economic and agronomical feasibility of potato production. Because the study was limited to a single season and location, more research is needed to make viable recommendations.