IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2020) 11-2

Research article
erd

Yield and Yield Components of Potato Response to Various
Planting Date in Cambodia
KHEANG SONG
Graduate School, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

SOPHAL VAR*
Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Email: var.sophal@gmail.com

SOVANBOREY OYFaculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

SEANGLY KHEANG
Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

SOPHOANRITH RO
Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

SIRANET ROEUN
Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

HONG CHEANG
Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Received 12 March 2020

Accepted 7 December 2020(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), a tuberous plant well known as a highly
nutritional diet and an economic crop s, is the world’s fourth largest production after rice,wheat and corn. Recent experiments have shown some potential places and varieties forcultivation in Cambodia. Thus, the experiment aimed to understand the response of thepotential potato varieties to different planting dates in Sen Monorom town, Mondulkiri
province (a mountainous area), Cambodia. The trail was laid out in randomized complete
block design with 4 replications and 3 different planting dates namely October, Novemberand December of 2018. The Coronada, certified seed from the Europlant International
company in Germany, was the ideal variety used in the experiment and lasted 115 days fromplanting to harvest. Only the number of tuber per plant, tuber weight, weight per plant, andmarketable yield were recorded. Suggested that planting date significantly affected to allmeasured parameters. Plot planting in December produced the highest number of tubers withan average of 9.3 tubers per plant while a similarity was noticed for October and November
planting. However, the November planting surprisingly produced the highest weight per plant,heavier tuber and the highest marketable yield with 19.15 ton ha-1. The two other planting
dates obtained an average yield of 14.49 and 12.39 ton ha-1 for October and December
consequently. This is understandable that November planting and harvest at end February,which is the long cold and windy season with less rainfall, was the most comprehend planting
season in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia.
Keywords: Mondulkiri, Coronada, upland, Cambodia, planting date

INTRODUCTION
Potato, Solanum tuberusom L., is the fourth largest production crop next after rice, corn and wheat(FAOSTAT, 2006), and the key crop for food security in many developed and developing countriesⒸ ISERD

123

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2020) 11-2

(Scott et al., 2000). At the present, potato production is expanding at an incredible rate throughout
the world. Despite its popularity, the crop is not an easy success production in all places. Potato
prefers a cool climate followed by a warm environment for the best massive production. Optimum
yield has been observed in temperate regions with an average temperature around 18-20 oC without
chill (Havetkort and Struik, 2015). In Cambodia, fresh potato is largely imported from Vietnam,
Thailand and China. Production of potato was first introduced in late 2016 under an experiment by
the Faculty of Agronomy at the Royal University of Agriculture (MAFF, 2016). In most hot andtropical countries, potato farming is recommended during the rainy and short rainy season, but mostupland produced areas would not be benefit due to the threat of the soil borne disease such as lateblight (Gebremedhin et al., 2008; Gildemacher et al., 2009). In association with climate change,
several technology packages, and cropping calendar are keys to succeed and maintain the production(Monneveux et al., 2014). Global yield losses were estimated from 18 to 32% without adaptation inproduction technologies packages, or 9 to 18% without consideration of cropping calendar and use
d of heat tolerant varieties (Hijmans, 2003). Tittonell et al. (2007) suggested that yield losses in mostrainfed areas is generally largely due more to management aspects than to low physical potential.
The Optimum timing of the planting date is considered as one of the key factors that strongly affectpotato production in a rainfed zone (Wang et al., 2008). Similar to other crops, the optimum planting
date for potato is mostly specific to each production region. However, there was no scientificrecommendation s to adaptable varieties with consideration of the environmental condition in uplandproduction areas in Cambodia, in particular, Mondulkiri province. Therefore, manipulation of theperfect timing of the planting date is the most important key to overcome the negative impact ofenvironmental on potato production in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia. The present study aimed todetermine the optimum planting date for potato production which can produce maximum yield under
the upland climate of Cambodia.
METHODOLOGY
Experiments were carried out under field conditions from October 2018 to April 2019 at Mondulkiri
province (12o28’27” , 107o12’33” E). The site was 710 meters above the sea level. The trial waslaid out in randomized complete block design with 4 replications. The treatment consisted of threedifferent planting dates namely second week of October, November and December, respectively.
Plant density was 4.8 plants/m2 in plots of 12 rows, 0.70 m apart and 25 m long. Each plot wasfertilized with 80 kg N ha-1, 80 kg P2O5 ha-1 and 150 kg K2O ha-1 at planting date and 40 kg N ha-1
and 100 kg K2O were applied at ridging (45 days after planting). Chemical and physical of theexperiment field was described in Table 1. Weed and pathogens were controlled chemically at themanufacturer’s recommendation rate to prevent biotics damage. The plots were surface irrigatedduring the growing season, according to weather station evapotranspiration data. Coronada, yellow
flesh and skin color from Europlant International, Germany, were used and allowed to stand on theground for 115 days from sowing to harvest. Marketable yield and yield components parameter wererecorded. The key data was the number of tubers per plant, weight per tuber, weight per plant andmarketable yield were measured at harvest.
Table 1 Soil physical and chemical properties analysis of experiment siteEC
38.0

pH
4.20

Soil TexturePppm

Kcmolc kg-1

N%

SOM%CEC
cmolc kg-1

Clay

Silt

Sand

0.1

0.42

0.29

5.07

72.4

22.3

35.3

42.4

Source; Soil Laboratory, Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONⒸ ISERD

124

ClassClayLoamIJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2020) 11-2

12140

10120ab8b6420OctoberNovember

Weight of tuber (grams)Number of tuber per plant

There was significantly different yield obtained due to variation of environmental condition during
the October, November and December. The highest tuber produced was recorded for December
planting while statistically similar were reported for October and November. The increase
temperature during the vegetative stage led to an increase in the number of stolon which led tovariation in the number of tuber produced per plant. In the upland environment in Cambodia, thetemperature increase was normally observed from mid-January onward while the low temperature
occurred from September or when the rain fell (September-November). Wolf et al. (2017)
emphasized that increased temperature for 20 days at tuber development could affect the number oftuber produced depending on genotype.
ab100

b80
60
40
200OctoberDecemberNovember

DecemberMonthMonthFig. 1 Result of tuber number per plants

Fig. 2 Result of weight of tuber

2520bab15105Yeild (ton per hectare)

Weight per plant (grams)

November planting produced larger and heavier tubers than any other planting date (Fig. 2).
Higher temperature aboveground over the potato favor limited tuber enlargement, which result in
reduced in tuber per plant (Wolf et al., 1991; Basu and Minhas, 1991). At a higher little temperaturethan 28 degrees Celsius, only 50% of assimilates produced were transferred to tubers, whereas 20%
more of assimilates were translocated at an optimum temperature of 18 oC (Randeni andCaesar,1986). Thus, planting potatoes in November in the upland environment of Cambodia attained
the highest yield which was about 19 ton per hectare. A Decrease in marketable yield was observedfor October planting which was similar to December cultivation. The result showed that November
was the optimum season which was 25-35% higher than growing during October and December.
2520

Novemberab15
100
Octoberb50

December

OctoberMonthNovember

DecemberMonthFig. 3 Average weight of tuber per plantFig. 4 Average marketable yield

Yield of the potato was relatively low due to infection by soil borne disease such as late blight.
Optimum growth and yield of potato was obtained in the tropical region when there was not muchrain and a cool dry climate. October was considered the main rainy season in Cambodia, with manyrainy days and high precipitation (Fig. 5). The Number of rainy days started to decrease form
November and little or no rainfall could be observed from middle of December and temperatures
started to increase. In most hot and tropical countries, potato farming was recommended during therainy and short rainy season, but most upland produced areas would not benefit due to the threat of
the soil borne disease such as late blight (Gebremedhin et al., 2008; Gildemacher et al., 2009).
Ⓒ ISERD125

160140120100806040200403530252015105078910111212018

Rainfall

2345Temperature (℃)

Rainfall (mm)IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2020) 11-262019

Min Temp

Max Temp

Fig. 5 Climate condition during the experiment
CONCLUSION
Our results is suggested that November was the optimum season for potato farming in uplandenvironment at Mondulkiri province, Cambodia. Planting potatoes in this season produced large
tuber and maximum yield with less damage from soil borne disease due to fewer rainy days andwarm temperature without chilled or exposing the potato to high temperature. October planting wasconsidered the second option, however well drainage system and chemical prevention need to beprepared to prevent crops from damage by excess water and spread of disease. In addition, for
December planting, variety was the key to obtaining better yield due to increase in temperature during
tuber bulking (45 day after sowing). Short and medium varieties are highly recommended, while
long varieties are highly exposed to low productive and crops failure.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to express their sincere thankfulness and appreciation to KOPIA Cambodia
Center (2016-KHM-03), the Europlant International for delivering the seed, GIZ for technical advice,selected farmers for support and encouragement, key informants and information; your mighty
support has been being my greatest source of motivation and inspiration.
REFERENCES
Basu, P.S. and Minhas, J.S. 1991. Heat tolerance and assimilate transport in different potato genotypes. J. Exp.
Bot., 42, 861-866. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jxb/42.7. 861
FAOSTAT. 2006. FAO Statistics database on the world wide web. Retrived from http://faostat3.fao.org/browse/Q/ QC/S.
Gebremedhin, W., Endale, G. and Lemaga, B. 2008. Potato agronomy. In Gebremedhin, W., Endale, G. andLemaga, B. (Eds.), Root and Tuber Crops: The Untapped Resources, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural
Research, 33-36. Addis Abeba.
Gildemacher, P.R., Kaguongo, W., Ortiz, O., Tesfaye, A., Gebremedhin, W.G., Wagoire,W.W., Kakuhenzire,R., Kinyae, P.M., Nyongesa, M., Struik, P.C. and Leeuwis, C. 2009. Improving potato production in Kenya,
Uganda and Ethiopia: A system diagnosis. American Journal of Potato Research, 52, 173-2052.
Havetkort, A.J. and Struik, P.C. 2015. Yield levels of potato crops: recent achievements and future prospects.
Field Crops Res., 182, 76-85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. fcr.2015.06.002
Hijmans, R.J. 2003. The effect of climate change on global potato production. American Journal of Potato
Research, 80, 271-279.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 2016. Country report: Agriculture current and future prospects.
Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, 36, 69-72, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Monneveux, P., Ramírez, D.A., Awais Khan, M., Raymundo, R.M., Loayza, H. and Quiroz, R. 2014. DroughtⒸ ISERD126

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2020) 11-2

and heat tolerance evaluation in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Potato Res., 57, 225-247. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1007/s11540-014-9263-3
Randeni, G. and Caesar, K. 1986. Effect of soil temperature on the carbohydrate status in the potato plant. J.
Agron. Crop Sci., 156, 217-224. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ j.1439-037X.1986.tb00030.x.
Scott, G.J., Rosegrant, M.W. and Ringler, C. 2000. Global projections for root and tuber crops to the year 2020.
Food Policy, 25, 561-597. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S0306-9192(99)00087-1.
Tittonell, P., Shepherd, K.D., Vanlauwe, B. and Giller, K.E. 2007. Unraveling the effects of soil and cropmanagement on maize productivity in smallholder agricultural systems of western Kenya, An applicationof classification and regression tree analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 10, 1-14.
Wang, Y.M., Traore, S. and Kerh, M. 2008. A climatic data information model for computing crop yields inBurkina Faso. 10th WSEAS International Conference on Mathematical Methods and ComputationalTechniques in Electrical Engineering, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Wolf, S., Marani, A. and Rudich, J. 1991. Effect of temperature on carbohydrate metabolism in potato plants.
J. Exp. Bot., 42, 619-625. http://dx.doi.org/10. 1093/jxb/42.5.61933.

Ⓒ ISERD127