Abstract:
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important crop in Ethiopia for nutritional security
and poverty alleviation. Shortage of disease-free and quality planting material led to a
lower production of potatoes. In this regard, soil and tuber borne diseases free planting
materials can be produced by stem cutting and it will be used an alternative seed
multiplication method. However, this practice is not common and recommendations are
lacking for stem-cutting node number and rooting media using stem-cutting techniques for
potato seed production in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the
effect of stem cutting node number and rooting media on rooting performance, seedling
growth, seed tuber yield, and yield-related traits at Haramaya, eastern Ethiopia, during
the main cropping season of 2023. Three levels of cutting node number (one node, two
nodes, and three nodes), and five types of rooting media [coco peat, sand (2 mm grain
size), forest soil, coco peat + sand (1:1), and sand + forest soil (1:1)] in factorial
combinations and laid in a completely randomized design (CRD), evaluated under a lath
house. In a separate condition experiment, the rooted stem cuttings were transplanted in
the field and studied for growth, tuber yield, and yield-related traits in a randomized
complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The rooting media significantly
influenced all the parameters except root fresh weight and leaf width. The best root quality
was obtained from cuttings rooted in a cocopeat+sand 1:1, and the highest survival rate
(83%) was observed in cocopeat media. The best seedling growth was obtained from the
cutting with three nodes, which recorded maximum number of leaves (509.5 per plant),
number of branches (11.6 per plant), and plant height (86.2 cm). The cuttings rooted in
forest soil produced the highest values in most of the growth and yield parameters. Using
forest soil as rooting media produced the maximum leaf number per plant (549.2), number
of branches per plant (12.3), plant height (91.3 cm), average tuber mass per plant
(0.41kg), total tuber yield (33.4t ha-1), total seed tuber yield (32.5t ha-1), large tuber size
number (50.9%) and yield (26.4 t ha-1). Thus, considering the overall performances, it is
recommended to use the forest soil medium as rooting media of Bubu potato variety
propagated from stem cutting to produce planting materials free from soil and tuber borne
diseases in the study area. However, as this study was conducted in a single location and
in a single season, it would be better to conduct an in-depth investigation under various
macroclimatic and rooting media
