IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2015) 6-2

Research article
erd

Effect of Stake Storage Methods on Germination, Growth andYield of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.)
ARUNEE PROMKHAMBUT*
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Integrated Water Resource Management Research and Development Center in Northeast, Thailand
Email: arunee@kku.ac.th

PIKUL MANUTA
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

ANUCHA LAOKEN
Mahasarakham Agricultural Research and Development Centre, Mahasarakham, Thailand

KIRIYA SUNGTHONGWISES
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

ANAN POLTHANEE
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kean University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Received 15 December 2014

Accepted 11 September 2015(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Quality of stakes is an important factor to determine the germination and plant
population, consequently the tuber yield of cassava. Storage of cassava stakes before planting
can affect the quality of the cutting. Therefore, the objective of this research was to investigate
the effect of different storage stake methods on germination, growth, and yield of cassava. Thefield experiment arranged in randomized complete block design with 3 replications wasconducted in Yasothorn soil series during April-October 2014 in Khon Kaen province, Thailand.
The three stake storage methods comprised of storage under tree shade, under sunlight and store
under sunlight with gunny sack coverage. Local cultivar of cassava was employed and stakes
were stored for 45 days before planting. The results showed that moisture content of the stake,available part and germination percentage at 7 days after planting (DAP) of the stake stored
under the sun with gunny sack coverage (69.08%, 73.93% and 85.71%, respectively) was
significantly higher than that under shade (57.23% , 47.56% and 28.57%, respectively) and insun (55.59%, 68.13% and 40.47%, respectively ). However, germination at 14 DAP andsurvival rate at 30 DAP were not significantly different among storage methods but stakes
covered with gunnysack tended to be higher than other methods. Stakes stored by covered withgunnysack gave the highest plant height at 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 72, and 180 DAP. Moreover,there was no significant difference in leaf, shoot and total aboveground dry weight, tuber yieldand starch contents that were found amongst the storage methods. The stakes stored under thesun and covered with gunnysack tended to give the highest values. This study shows thepotential method for storing cassava stakes under field conditions before planting.
Keywords cutting storage method, germination, survival rate

INTRODUCTION
Cassava is usually planted by using vegetative part called stem cutting or stake. Normally, farmers use
the cassava stems after harvest for the next growing season. These cassava stakes are kept in the fieldⒸISERD110IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2015) 6-2

for a period of time before planting. Thus, exposure of the cutting to the sun can result in lost viability
within a short time due to dehydration. These poor stakes cause a poor establishment and finally a lowyield. Andrade and Leihner (1980) reported that stake storage conditions were more critical than theduration of the storage. Sinthuprama and Tiraporn (1986) reported that stakes stored upright undershade for 45 days could obtain 80% survival rate but decreased faster when stems were stored in thesun and covered with leaves. However, Boonma et al., (2007) found that stake stored in the sun withthe base earthen up resulted in greater stem moisture content and stem length than shade storage withno significant effect on germination and survival percentage. These contradicting opinions, therefore,
needed to be proved by alternative method, which could be convenient for field practices by farmers.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different storage stake methods ongermination, growth and yield of cassava.
METHODOLOGY
Experimental site and design: A field experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field CropResearch Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Thailand (latitude 16° 26´N andlongitude 102° 48´E) during April-October 2014. The experiment was conducted in a loamy-sand soil
(Yasothorn soil series) with pH 5.14, 0.48 % of organic matter, 28.60 mg/kg of available phosphorus,and 39.55 mg/kg of extractable potassium. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete
Block Design with 3 replications. The treatments included stakes storage upright under 3 different
conditions: under tree shade, in sun, and in sun with gunny sack coverage.
Materials and cultural practices: A local cultivar cassava named E-dam which was stored under
different methods for 45 days was used in the study. The stakes of 20 cm in length were planted
vertically with a 100 x 100 cm spacing in a 5 x 8 m plot. Plots were manually weeded 2 times at 1 and2 months after planting. Chemical fertilizer grade 15-7-18 (N, P2O5, K2O) at the rate of 312.5 kg/ha
was applied 1 month after planting. Irrigation was applied during the period of 1-2 months after
planting to ensure good establishment during April-May 2014 and the field was kept under rain for therest of the growing period. The total amount of rainfall during the growing period was 946.7 mm andthe mean values of daily maximum and minimum temperature were 33.5°C and 24.5°C, respectively.
Crop measurement: Before planting, 4 stakes were randomly selected to estimate moisture content byoven dried at 80°C to constant weight. The moisture content was calculated based on the stem freshweight. Available portion in percentage was measured by dividing the length of vital or usable parts
with total stem length and multiplying it by 100. Germination at 7 and 14 days after planting (DAP)
was counted and a survival rate at 30 DAP was also recorded. Plant height was continuously measured
at 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 72, and 180 DAP. Biomass measurement was done at 180 DAP by cutting thestem base of three plants at random per plot. Plants were separated into leaves, stems, and tubers andwere oven dried at 80°C to constant weight. The fresh tuber root yield (t/ha) were calculated based on
the harvested crops. The starch content in the tuber was determined by specific gravity method.
Statistical analysis: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for all data was done by using Statistix 10.0
software (Analytical Software, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.). The Least Significant Difference (LSD)
was used to compare all mean values.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Stake Characteristics and Germination
Storage of cassava stems under different conditions had a significant effect on stake moisture content
and available plant part usable for planting. Cassava stems stored in the sun with gunny sack coverage
had significantly higher stake moisture content (69.08%) and available plant part (73.93%) than othermethods (Table 1). However, this study opposed with the report of Boonma et al. (2007) who had
found that stakes stored in the sun with base earthen up had greater stem moisture content and stems
length usable for planting than that in the shade. They indicated that photosynthesis of the newly
sprouts is an important factor in maintaining the stems moisture content compared to the low lightintensity perceived by the sprouts of stems stored under the shade. In this experiment, it was found thatstems stored in the sun were burnt by sunlight which might result in lower stake moisture content.
Stems stored in the sun with gunny sack coverage produced some bud sprouting but with pale andyellow color. Stakes stored under tree shade were destroyed by termite leading to the lowest available
part (47.56%).
Table 1 Effect of stake storage methods on germination and survival percentage of cassava
Storage method

Stake moisture
content (%)
57.23b55.59b69.08aAvailable
part (%)
47.56b68.13a73.93aGermination(%) at 7DAP
28.57b40.47b85.71aGermination(%) at 14 DAP
88.64
93.56
95.92

Survival (%) at
30 DAP
83.33
90.48
92.86

Under tree shadeIn sunIn sun with gunnysack coverage
F-test*****nsnsCV (%)
9.04
17.10
14.60
3.30
14.18
Ns, *, **= not significant, significant different at p<0.05, 0.01, respectively. Means in the same column with different letters
are significantly different at p<0.05 and 0.01 by LSD
DAP= days after planting

At 7 DAP, cassava stems kept in the sun with gunny sack coverage germinated significantly faster(85.71%) than stems stored by other methods (28.57-40.47%) (Table 1). This might be contributed by
the higher moisture content in the stakes which supported by the study of Leihner (1984) who foundthat stakes lost its viability when dehydration reduced moisture content less than 60%. The decrease inreserved carbohydrate of the cutting stem by respiration during the storage might also affect thegermination rate of stakes (Leihner, 1984). However, no significant difference was found in
germination at 14 DAP and survival percentage at 30 DAP among storage methods. But stakes storedin sun with gunny sack coverage tended to have the higher survival rate. Boonma et al., (2007) also
found the same results when stems stored in the field and under tree shade. Even no significant
difference in germination at 14 days after planting onward, the results from this study indicated thatstem with high moisture content had vigorous germination. This would be important for growing
cassava at the end of the rainy season, which soil moisture content was quickly loss. The fastergermination of crop also indicated the higher leaf area coverage which could be possibly competingwith weed.
Plant Height
Different storage methods significantly affected plant height at 14, 28, 35, and 42 DAP. Stakes stored
in the sun with gunny sack coverage had significant higher plant height than other methods at 14, 28,35, and 42 days after planting and tended to have higher plant height than other methods at 21, 72, andⒸISERD112

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2015) 6-2

180 days after planting (Table 2). This might be due to the ability of early germination of seedlings
grown from this method, which indicating the strong vigor of the stored materials.
Table 2 Effect of stake storage methods on height (cm) of cassava at 14-180 days after planting
Storage method
14 DAP
21 DAP
28 DAP
35DAP
42DAP
72DAP
180DAP
Under tree shade
12.15b
14.00
14.85b
20.67b
27.15b77.49
238.78In sun13.31b
14.58
15.41b
22.79b
29.84ab86.14
246.66
In sun with gunny
15.96a18.30
19.61a27.31a35.52a86.91
250.78sack coverage
F-test
**
ns*
*
*
nsns
CV (%)
3.28
10.74
8.17
6.50
8.67
12.75
7.00
Ns, *, **= not significant, significant different at p<0.05, 0.01, respectively. Means in the same column with different letters
are significantly different at p<0.05 and 0.01 by LSD
DAP= days after planting

Table 3 Effect of stake storage methods on cassava population, growth and yield at 180 days
after planting
StoragemethodPlant
population/haUnder tree
shadeIn sun
In sun withgunny sackcoverage
F-testCV (%)
Ns = not significant

8333

Leaf dryweight(kg/ha)1752.9

Stem dryweight(kg/ha)5558.1

Aboveground
dry weight(kg/ha)7311.0Tuber dryweight(kg/ha)11556

Tuber freshweight(t/ha)
32.6

Starchcontent
(%)
20.90

9048
9286

1776.12549.15412.47092.97188.59642.0

10516
12365

30.8
36.1

21.95
22.60

ns
14.18

ns
18.15

ns
12.58

ns
12.92

ns
15.84

ns
13.31

ns
7.56

Plant Population, Crop Biomass and Yield
Due to the higher survival percentage, population per ha of cassava grown from stems stored in sun
with gunny sack coverage was higher than the other methods (Table 3). Different stem storage methods
had no significant effect on crop biomass, root fresh yield, and starch content in the tuber (Table 3).
However, due to the higher population, cassava planted from stems stored in sun with gunny sackcoverage tended to have higher leaf, stem, aboveground, tuber dry weight per ha, and tuber fresh yield
per ha than other methods. Storage methods did not have significant effect on root starch content.
Boonma et al., (2007) also reported no significant difference between stakes stored in the field with thebase earthen up and under tree shading in terms of fresh and dry root yield and root starch content. This
study is consistent with the findings of Andrade and Leihner (1980) who indicated that final standpercentage or population of crops were not the factors responsible for yield variation of cassava if stem
cuttings were kept under appropriate conditions.
CONCLUSION
Storage of cassava stake under field conditions before planting is critical for better germination andsurvival of the seedlings. The results show that stems stored in the sun with gunny sack coverage had
the highest germination and survival percentage, which resulted in higher population and higher crop
biomass and tuber yield per area. However, under the three studied storage conditions, other factors
affecting shoot and root growth, rather than population, may determine cassava yield. Therefore, stakes
can be stored by any of the three methods from this study.
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However, in order to get the higher root yield and higher starch content, stem cutting stored in thefield with gunny sack coverage should be recommended.
REFERENCES
Andrade, A.M.S. and Leihner, D.E. 1980. Influence of period and conditions of storage on growth and yield ofcassava. In: Cassava Cultural Practices. Proc. Workshop held in Salvador, Brazil, 18-21 March 1980, 33-37.
Boonma, S., Vichukit, V. and Sarobol, E. 2007. Effects of cutting storage duration and methods on germination,growth and yield of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.). Proc. 45th Kasetsart University Annual Conference:Plants. 30 January - 2 February 2007. Bangkok, Thailand, 131-138.
Leihner, D.E. 1984. Storage effects on planting material and subsequent growth and root yield of cassava(Manihot esculenta Crantz). (Retrieved: 24 September 2015 from http://www.istrc.org/images/Documents/Symposiums/Sixth/6th_symposium_proceedings_0043_section_3_257.pdf).
Sinthuprama, S. and Tiraporn, C. 1986. Improving the productivity of cassava in Thailand. In: Cassava in Asia,
Its Potential and Research Development Needs. Proc. 1st Regional Workshop, held in Bangkok, Thailand.
June 5-8 1984, 277-287.

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