Staff directory
Kim Jacobsen
Biology
Wood biology
Wood biology
Publication details
Blomme, G., Jacobsen, K., Tawle, K. & Yemataw, Z. 2018. ‘Agronomic practices with a special focus on transplanting methods for optimum growth and yield of enset [Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman] in Ethiopia’. Fruits 73 (6), special issue : Thematic issue Enset : 349-355. DOI: DOI: 10.17660/th2018/73.6.5. I.F. 0.644.
Article in a scientific Journal / Article in a Journal
Introduction – Transplanting enset suckers or plants is practiced by the majority of small-scale farmers across the enset-growing belt in Ethiopia. Enset suckers, obtained from a multiplication nursery, are first intensely managed in a small plot (one plant 0.5–1.0 m-2) from where plants are consecutively transplanted into ever more widely spaced arrangements with a final minimal spacing of one plant 2–4 m-2. This review summarizes relevant information on transplanting methods from randomized controlled field trials and on-farm observations. Results and discussion – Transplanting frequency impacts the crop cycle duration and yield. Transplanting once results in plants with a higher growth rate and hence a shorter crop cycle, while more frequent transplanting results in higher yields per plant. For example, plants transplanted once were harvested at 2 years and yielded 27 kg dry matter (DM) plant-1, while plants transplanted two or three times were both harvested at 4.5 years and yielded, respectively, 44 and 31 kg DM plant-1. Conclusion – This review endeavours to help determine the enset transplanting methods that give optimum growth, biomass production and yield.