This study was conducted in the experimental unit of the Benson Agriculture and Food Institute, which is located in the Letanias community of the Ingavi province in the department of La Paz. Our objective was to compare the agronomic performance of two baby lettuce varieties (Lactuca sativa L.) at three planting densities in panqar huyus. In order to provide the rural farmer communities of Contorno Letanias and Contorno Medio a possible cost-effective alternative and to employ the use of moderate environments called panqar huyus, we introduced two varieties of baby lettuce: 1) Little Gem in seed form and 2) Tom Thumb already sprouted. These two were planted at densities of 250,000, 333,333, and 500,000 plants/hectare. Statistical analyses performed using the F-test and Duncan’s Multiple Range test found statistical differences between the varieties of baby lettuce and/or planting densities in the following response variables: plant height, number of leaves, root length, total foliage area, green foliage yield, and individual weight of green foliage. The values we obtained for green foliage yield were below those published by the European Union (2004). This was mainly due to the climate of the interior of the panqar huyus. The highest average yield achieved by the baby lettuce varieties was reached by Little gem in seed form with a value of 1.66 kg/m2. As for the planting densities, the highest yield was obtained with the 500,000 plants/hectare density, which had a value of 2.18 kg/m2. As for the quality of the harvested product, the values closest to the parameters established by the European Nations (2004) and the MAG/IICA (2004) were obtained in treatments 5 and 6. Some of these parameters were head diameter, plant height, number of leaves, total foliage area, and individual weight of green foliage. Furthermore, the economic analysis done via the partial budget estimate proposed by CIMMYT (1983) determined that treatment 5 (Little gem in seed form planted at a planting density of 500,000 plants/hectare) is the most profitable when compared to the other treatments in the area of domain.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-6411 |
| Date | 01 January 2005 |
| Creators | Orruel Fusco, Francisco Javier |
| Publisher | BYU ScholarsArchive |
| Source Sets | Brigham Young University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Coverage | La Paz (Bolivia) |
| Rights | http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/ |
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