Ratan Dasgupta

Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 203 B T Road, Kolkata, India
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol. 7, No. 12   doi: 10.5376/ijh.2017.07.0012
Received: 25 Apr., 2017    Accepted: 05 May, 2017    Published: 15 Jun., 2017

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Dasgupta R., 2017, Longitudinal growth curve of elephant foot yam under extreme stress and plant sensitivity, International Journal of Horticulture, 7(12): 95-105 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2017.07.0012)

Plant sensitivity under extreme stress in harsh agro-climatic environment for yam plants is studied to maximise yam yield for different seed weights. Longitudinal growths of 60 Elephant-foot-yam, 20 for each seed weight 500 g, 650 g and 800 g are examined in a field experiment conducted at Indian Statistical Institute Giridih, Jharkhand. Little manure and a few irrigations were available during the experiment. In order to maximise total yield, we examine yam growth under stress of interim yam detachment with two options: interim yam detachment towards the beginning of experiment, or at a later time from the middle of experiment; we also examine undisturbed yam growth for comparison. Growth curve analysis indicates that uprooting plants for taking interim readings and subsequent replantation has a favorable effect on inert growth of yam. For three different seed weights in either of three categories of induced stress on yam plants as, detachment of yam at first interim reading, detachment at second interim reading, and no interim detachment during experiment - only uprooting and replanting after taking growth readings; longitudinal growth curves are constructed via four possible readings on yam. Detaching yam around four and half month from sprouting for seed weight 800 g, and replanting the remaining stem structure with some roots attached to it and continue experiment till final harvest on maturity, has significantly increasing effect on interim yield plus yield on maturity, in comparison with other strategies under extreme stress. Yam growth becomes higher due to stress from interim yam detachment.

Growth curve; Longitudinal analysis; Lowess regression; Plant sensitivity; Sustainable agriculture; Amorphophallus paeoniifolius