Abstract

CASTAGNINO, Ana María et al. Productivity and quality of male green asparagus in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Agron. Mesoam [online]. 2019, vol.30, n.3, pp.721-732. ISSN 2215-3608.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/am.v30i3.34471.

Introduction. In asparagus cultivation, as it is a perennial productive alternative, evaluation is required to know the response of different genotypes to the area in which are being introduced. Objective. The aim of the present work was to determine the productivity of seven Italian male hybrids and an American control of green asparagus from an adult plantation in its stage of stable productivity. Materials and methods. The study was carried out in Azul, Argentina (19/8/2016-17/11/2016), where the following genotypes were evaluated: Italo, Zeno, Eros, Ercole, H-668, Marte, Giove, and the control UC-157. Large and small seedling and two cutting lengths (22 and 17 cm) were compared. The variables were: total fresh commercial productivity of long and short spears, number of long and short total commercial spears, mean weight of long and short spears, calibre distribution: very small (asparagina) (A<6 mm), small (S; 6-9 mm), medium (M; 9-12 mm), large (L; 12-16 mm), extra-large (XL; 16-18 mm) and giant (J; >18 mm), and the defects: very short spears, sprouted spears, plague damaged spears and other such as twisted, double or diseased spears. Data were analysed by ANOVA (p≥0.05) and Fisher’s restricted LSD test. Results. The average first quality commercial production achieved with both harvested lengths was 4.41 t ha-1 (37 % short and 63 % long spears). Seventeen spears were obtained per plant (44 % short and 56 % long spears). In number of total commercial spear (267,189 spears ha-1), Ercole, Giove, Eros, and H-668 exceeded the mean. The genotypes with the highest commercial productivity were Giove and Ercole, while by number of spears Eros and H-668. The main defect was sprouting (93 %). Conclusions. In order to optimize the commercial yield and minimize the sprouting defect, it is suggested to harvest daily and to use two cutting lengths to increase commercial spear percentage.

Keywords : steam vegetables; Asparagus officinalis; crop yield; food quality.

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