Variations among ten yam (Dioscorea spp.) genotypes in growth and tuber yield at different nitrogen levels
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Yam is an essential food crop with high economic importance in Nigeria and West Africa. However, yam production has declined greatly because farmers lack knowledge of yam nutrient requirements for optimal yield. Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH), a licensed propagation technique, enables year-round yam cultivation under controlled conditions and has been successfully adopted at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Although previous studies have investigated adequate nutrient application and timing in yam, the overall scope of research remains limited. This limitation is partly attributable to the different sources of nutrients and genotypic variation in response to nutrient application by yam accessions. Also, no information exists on yam nutrient studies using the SAH technique. This study was therefore conducted to evaluate the variability in the response of yam to different nitrogen levels. Ten Dioscorea rotundata accessions (DRS002, DRS027, DRS044, DRS074, DRS104, R- 031, TDr93-31, TDr8902665, Meccakusa,TDr9519177) were screened under four nutrient regimes within a Semi- Autotrophic Hydroponics setup. A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with ten replicates per treatment was used. The nutrient regimes used were ALL-N (15.08 g N, 21.06 g K, 2.80 g P, 10.74 g Ca, 4.28 g Na, 3.25 g Mg, and 2 g Fe), Half-N (7.55 g N, 31.64 g K, 2.80 g P, 5.37 g Ca, 4.28 g Na, 3.25 g Mg, and 2 g Fe), - N (0 g N, 21.11 g of K, 2.80 g P, 10.8g Ca, 21.55 g Na, 3.25 g Mg, and 2 g Fe), and Water (as control). Growth and yield parameters, including number of leaves (NL), leaf chlorophyll content (SPAD), leaf fresh weight (LFW), shoot fresh and dry weights (SFW, SDW), tuber fresh and dry weights (TFW, TDW), were recorded at 50 and 150 days after treatment (DAT). Amongst the accessions, TDr8902665 demonstrated significantly superior growth and yield (p > 0.001) under Half-N and ALL-N conditions compared to - N and Control treatments, with the highest TDW (0.69 g) recorded under the Half-N regime. These results indicate that Half-N concentrations can sustain comparable performance to full nutrient levels in certain yam genotypes under SAH. TDr8902665 is recommended for breeding programs and commercial propagation targeting improved
Palabras clave
genetic gain, nitrogen, screening, breeding, yams, nutrients