Assessment of plant growth regulators and chemicals for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) dormancy breaking and subsequent yield in central highlands of Ethiopia

Abstract

The duration of the dormancy period in tubers is a determining factor in the planning of potato planting and production. The effect of two plant growth regulators on the dormancy period and sprouting of cv. Diacol Capiro tubers was evaluated in this study. The experiment was carried out under storage conditions (15°C and 75% RH) using a completely randomized block design with 3×3×3 factorial arrangement. The factors were: Gibberellic acid-3 (GA3) and 6-benzylaminopurine (6BAP) (0, 25, and 50 mg L-1) and the immersion time (iT) (10, 60, and 120 min). The application of GA3 and iT had an effect on dormancy breakage; the treatments with 25 mg L-1 GA3 and 60 min of immersion were enough to reduce dormancy by 18 days (35%) compared to untreated tubers. The factor GA3 increased tuber weight loss (10.2%), generated sprouts with higher weight (25.6-28.4%), higher length growth rate (42.3%), and lower dry matter content (21.8-28.4%), and it increased secondary sprouting (36.2-57.9%) in comparison with untreated tubers. This way, despite the treatments with 25 mg L-1 GA3 reduced the dormancy period, this dose generated sprouts more susceptible to mechanical damage. The treatments with 6BAP did not significantly affect the evaluated variables.