Effect of Pruning on Disease Incidence and Field Development of a Local Cassava Variety (Manihot esculentus C.)

Abstract

This study was conducted at the Nkoemvone Agricultural Research Station in southern Cameroon on cassava in September 2022. Its aim was to provide farmers with good cultivation techniques so that they can improve their yield. The objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of pruning on the growth of cassava stems. Specifically, the aim is to find the right time of the year when pruning could optimize growth and reduce disease incidence. A large 450m² plot was divided into three units and each unit corresponded to a treatment. These treatments were randomly placed on the large plot, thus we have T1= pruning in rainy weather, May 30; T2= in absence of rain, July 01 and T0= not pruned. The evaluation of these treatments was carried out on two parameters, namely the number of regrowths and the presence of diseases, more precisely mosaic. The study was conducted on 150 stems, i.e. 50 per treatment. The ANOVA allowed us to make the different analyses. The protocol used to assess the effect of pruning is a completely randomized system. The results show that there is a significant difference between T0, T1 and T2 on the number of regrowths with the respective means T0= 2, T2= 4 and T1= 6 regrowths per stem. In addition, significant differences were observed for the severity well illustrated here by the severity index which is 16.8% for T1, 19.6% for T0 and 63.8% for T2. These results indicate that cuttings should be harvested during the rainy season to ensure the sustainability of a seed field, and pruning during this season would reduce the presence of diseases. On the other hand, pruning in the dry season is very harmful and could even lead to the drying out of the stems.