Tamon BABA
1*
, Hisako NOMURA
2
, Yoshinori UTSUMI
3
, Sokheang UY
4
, Pherom SONG
4
, Akio KAMEDA
5
,
Manabu ISHITANI
6
, Motoaki SEKI
3,7,8
, Pao SREAN
4
9
1
College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University, Japan;
2
Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan;
3
RIKEN, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Japan;
4
Faculty of Agriculture and Food Processing, National University of Battambang, Cambodia;
5
BIO AGRI, CO., LTD., Cambodia;
6
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia;
7
RIKEN, Cluster for Pioneering Research, Japan;
8
Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University, Japan;
9
International Center for Research and Education in Agriculture, Nagoya University, Japan.
*
Corresponding author: babatmn@gmail.com
Abstract
Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important crop in Cambodia. The estimation of the yield of cassava stem
and tuberous root from plants cultivated at different plant densities in the Battambang province remains elusive,
although it is possible to obtain a higher yield these tissues. In this study, we investigated the optimal density of
cultivation for Rayong 7 (R 7) and Kasetsart 50 (KU 50), which are the most commonly used cultivars of cassava in
Cambodia. The 0.5 × 0.65 m spacing resulted in high yields of stem and tuberous root for R 7 whereas a row width of
0.6 × 0.8 m was appropriate for producing the highest yields for KU 50. Regression analysis showed that the density
of R 7 had a positive linear correlation with tuberous root yield when all factors were considered. In contrast, the
density of KU 50 did not significantly correlate with the yield of tuberous roots. Each 25% increase in density
increased, on an average, the tuberous root weight by 5.5% and 10% for the R 7 cultivar. Our results suggest that a
high planting density of cassava is positively correlated with its tuberous root yield, and for R 7, tuberous root yield
improves as the density increases.
Keywords: Cambodia, cassava, planting density.
