Thesis (M.Sc. (Horticulture)) --University of Limpopo, 2022 / Worldwide, water scarcity, land degradation and unavailability of agricultural lands have
posed serious threats on food security and income generation. Hunger, micronutrient
deficiencies and starvation are likely to go up in Africa due to increasing urbanisation
and rise in global food prices. As a result, it is important to identify innovative vegetable
growing-based strategies, which can increase access to food by utilising the limited
space available in rural and urban areas. Therefore, sack gardening technology could
be a solution to both the lack of arable land and water scarcity in urban and rural areas.
The objective of the study was to determine whether axillary bud number will have an
effect on agronomic parameters and yield of sweet potato cv. 'Blesbok' produced using
the sack gardening technology. Treatments, namely, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 number of axillary
buds per stem cutting, were arranged in randomised complete block design, with 10
replicates. One bud (1) was used as a control. Different stem cuttings measuring from
10 to 30 cm long with approximately one (1) to six (6) axillary buds were collected from
mature sweet potato plantation at a certified nursery from cv. 'Blesbok'. A total of eight
(8) stem cuttings were planted in sacks consisting of growing media mixture of steam
pasteurised loam soil and compost (3:1 v/v), 4 on top side of the sack and the
remaining four on the side-holes of the sack. Insect pests were scouted and monitored
weekly, while diseases were managed using spraying programmes as in commercial
sweet potato production systems. Two weeks after transplanting, each plant was
fertilised with 5 g nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) 2:3:2 (26) + 0.5%
Zinc (Zn) + 5% sulphur (S) and 5% calcium (Ca). Number of axillary buds had
significant effects on vine length, fresh shoot mass, number of shoots and dry shoot
mass contributing 59%, 58%, 45% and 58% in total treatment variation (TTV),
respectively, whereas axillary bud numbers had no significant effects on fresh tuberous
root mass, chlorophyll content, vine stem diameter, tuberous root diameter, tuberous
root length, dry tuberous root mass and number of tuberous roots. Relative to control
(one bud), two (2), three (3), four (4), five (5) number of axillary buds decreased vine
length, fresh shoot mass and dry shoot mass by 8-37, 30-55 and 26-55%, respectively.
However, relative to control (one bud), number of axillary buds increased number of
shoots by 8-17%. The quadratic relationship models were explained by 95, 92, 96 and
98% of vine length (VL), number of shoots (NS), fresh shoot mass (FSM) and dry shoot
mass (DSM), respectively. In conclusion, findings of the study demonstrated that a
single (1) or two (2) axillary bud(s) on stem cuttings of sweet potato CV. „Blesbok‟
showed better results for both yield and growth parameters as compared to three (3),
four (4) and five (5) buds. / AgriSETA
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/4191 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Moitsi, Lebogang Rejoice |
| Contributors | Shadung, K. G ., Maila, M. Y. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xiv, 67 leaves |
| Relation |
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