Commercial hybrid yield of green asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L. var. altilis) processed in two spear-lengths, during the stable productivity stage, in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

CASTAGNINO, A.M.; GUISOLIS, A.; DIAZ, K.E.; DUSSI, M.C.; ROSINI, M.B.; ROGERS, W.J.

ACTA HORTICULTURAE

International Society for Horticultural Science

Lugar: Istambul; Año: 2020 vol. 1297 p. 337 - 346

0567-7572

The perennial crop asparagus reaches maximum yield in its fifth season, exhibits marked genotype-environment interaction and requires productivity evaluation of its hybrids. To determine the behavior of green asparagus genotypes, a randomized complete block design trial (begun 16/11/11, density 23810 pl ha-1, area 1690 m2) was carried out in Azul (36°48? S, lat. 59°51? W, long.) within the framework of the ISHS?s Fourth International Asparagus Cultivar Trial, in which the following hybrids were harvested between 5/8/17 and 26/10/17 and evaluated for agronomic performance: ?Italo?, ?Vittorio?, ?Eros?, ?Ercole?, ?Giove?, ?Franco?, ?Chino?, ?Early-California?, ?UC-157?, ?Patrón?, ?NJ-1189?, ?NJ-1123? and ?NJ-1192?. Their response to pre-harvest diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilisation was also evaluated (100 kg ha-1 vs. control). Harvested spears were cut, conditioned to two lengths (long 22 cm, short 17 cm), weighed, counted, washed and calibrated. The following characters were evaluated: total fresh commercial productivity (TFP) and that of long and short commercial spears (CFP-L and CFP-S); total commercial spear number (TSN) and that of long and short commercial spears (CSN-L and CSN-S); mean spear weight (MSW); calibre distribution (CD): (J: Jumbo; XL: Extra-Large; L: Large; M: Medium; S: Small and A: Asparagine). ANOVA-LSD test P≥0.05 was employed. DAP fertilisation raised yield by 3-10%, though not significantly. The following mean values were obtained: TFP: 8678.46 kg ha-1; TSN: 440298 spears ha-1; MSW: 20 g; CFP-L: 3109; CFP-S: 1945 kg ha-1; CSN-L: 165857 and CSN-S: 130467 spears ha-1. The following hybrids performed well: for CFP-L: ?Vittorio?: 4379(a); ?Franco?: 4033(ab); ?NJ-1123?: 3849(abc); for CFP-C: ?NJ-1123?: 2726(a); ?Ercole?: 2483(ab); ?Vittorio?: 2325(abc); for CSN-L: ?NJ-1123?: 225260(a); ?Franco?: 214161(a); ?Vittorio?: 204358(ab); ?Giove?: 200229(abc); for CSN-C: ?NJ-1123?: 2725(a); ?Ercole?: 2482(ab); ?Vittorio?: 2325(abc); for CD: J: ?UC-157?: 12767(a); ?Eros?: 9882(ab); ?NJ-1123?: 9005(abc); for XL: ?NJ-1123?: 41124(a); ?Franco?: 38958(ab); ?NJ-1192?: 37644(ab); for L: ?Ercole?: 85083(a); ?NJ-1123?: 84700(a); ?Franco?: 83872(a); ?Italo?: 83095(a); for M: ?NJ-1123?: 118198(a); ?Franco?: 116369(a); ?Vittorio?: 109645(ab); ?Ercole?: 105984(ab); for S: ?Giove?: 102748(a); ?NJ-1123?: 80530(ab). In summary, ?NJ-1123? would be chosen for spear number productivity and ?Vittorio? and ?Franco? for yield.