Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities (EJPAU) founded by all Polish Agriculture Universities presents original papers and review articles relevant to all aspects of agricultural sciences. It is target for persons working both in science and industry,regulatory agencies or teaching in agricultural sector. Covered by IFIS Publishing (Food Science and Technology Abstracts), ELSEVIER Science - Food Science and Technology Program, CAS USA (Chemical Abstracts), CABI Publishing UK and ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publisher - full membership). Presented in the Master List of Thomson ISI.
2001
Volume 4
Issue 2
Topic:
Horticulture
ELECTRONIC
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES
Buczkowska H. , Sałata A. 2001. EVALUATION OF YIELDING OF SEVERAL RHUBARB CULTIVARS IN THE FIRST YEARS OF UTILIZATION OF A PLANTATION, EJPAU 4(2), #02.
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume4/issue2/horticulture/art-02.html

EVALUATION OF YIELDING OF SEVERAL RHUBARB CULTIVARS IN THE FIRST YEARS OF UTILIZATION OF A PLANTATION

Halina Buczkowska, Andrzejjj Sałata

 

ABSTRACT

Several rhubarb cultivars were investigated: ‘Koral’, ‘Karpow Lipskiego’, ‘Wczesny Hosera’, ‘Wiśniowy’, ‘Purpurat’ – in the third, fourth and fifth years of the utilization of a plantation. Essential differences in yielding of the investigated cultivars were shown. The largest average marketable yield was obtained from the cultivation of ‘Karpow Lipskiego’, whereas the smallest from the cultivation of ‘Purpurat’. On average, the most petioles were gathered from the plants of cultivars ‘Wiśniowy’ and ‘Wczesny Hosera’, while the fewest from cultivar ‘Purpurat’. ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ was distinguishable by a decidedly greater average mass of petioles in comparison to other cultivars. In consideration of marketable yields, cultivars ‘Karpow Lipskiego’, ‘Wczesny Hosera’ and ‘Koral’ proved to be the most useful for the cultivation with petioles being intended for direct consumption.

Key words: rhubarb, cultivars, yielding of rhubarb.

INTRODUCTION

Garden rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum L.) is a perennial vegetable, a plant of temperate and cool climate. The rhubarb plant is resistant to frost. In spring it renews growing immediately after snow melting and the surface thaw of the soil, at the average twenty-four hours’ temperature of more than 4°C [11, 13].

In a given year of the plantation utilization, the rhubarb yielding depends on the cultivar features, number of harvests, quantity of leaves broken off at once, the length of the harvest period and fertilization [1, 2, 4, 6, 7].

According to Kmiecik and Wróblewska [7, 14], the crucial criterion of evaluation of the rhubarb cultivars whose petioles are intended for the fresh vegetable market is the earliness of their yielding, as it remarkably determines the profitability of production. Cultivars intended for direct consumption are those, whose yielding is characterized by considerable share of the early yield in the total marketable yield.

The aim of the investigation undertaken in the present work was to evaluate the height, earliness and structure of the yields of five rhubarb cultivars in three succeeding years of the plantation utilization.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The experiment was conducted in 1996-1998 at the Experimental Station of Agricultural University in Lublin on the rhubarb plantation established in spring, 1994. Before planting the rootstocks in autumn, 1993, organic fertilization with manure (50 t·ha-1) as well as mineral fertilization of P – 40, K – 150 kg·ha-1 was applied. In the years 1994-1998 the plants were fertilized each time after harvests, with N – 50, P – 30, K – 100 kg·ha-1. Five rhubarb cultivars were compared in the experiment: ‘Koral’, ‘Karpow Lipskiego’, ‘Wczesny Hosera’, ‘Wi¶niowy’ and ‘Purpurat’. The plants of every cultivar were grown in the spacing of 2.0×1.5 m.

The experimental unit for the research was a single plant. Ten plants out of each cultivar were chosen randomly for the examination. In every year of the experiments the research was done on the same plants as it was assumed that the three-year period of the development of leaf buds may affect the results of yielding [6]. The leaves intended for harvesting were those with petioles more than 20 cm long and of minimal cross-section above 2.0 cm in the middle of their length. Several leaves were broken off one plant at once. With each investigated cultivar the leaves were gathered at the same time and within the same number of harvests (table 1).

Table 1. Number and dates of rhubarb leaves harvests in the years 1996-1998

Years

Dates of harvests

Number of harvests

1996

8.05

20.05

11.06

25.06

4

1997

5.05

17.05

25.05

16.06

4

1998

18.04

12.05

28.05

21.06

4

The yield of rhubarb leaves harvested during the first and second harvest was considered as early. The leaves yields of the studied rhubarb cultivars obtained in separate years of the experiment did not differ significantly and therefore they were analysed using mean values from the years 1996-1998.

The results of the rhubarb yielding were worked out statistically using the analysis of variance. The significance of differences (at 5% level of significance) was evaluated with the help of Tuckey’s multiple reliance range.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 2 shows average values of the yielding of five rhubarb cultivars in the years 1996-1998. The average yield of leaves obtained from one rhubarb plant was 13.2 kg and the average yield of petioles was 8.2 kg. Irrespective of the cultivar, marketable yields, on average, consisted of 74.1 pieces of petioles with the average mass of a single petiole of 107.9 g.

Table 2. Structure of yields of five rhubarb cultivars (on average in years 1996-1998)

Cultivar

Total leaves yield
(kg·plant-1)

Marketable yield of petioles (kg·plant-1)

Share of petioles yield in total leaves yield (%)

Number of petioles in commercial yield
(per plant)

Average mass of petiole (g)

Koral

13.5

8.1

59.9

78.4

103.9

Karpow Lipskiego

15.8

10.3

64.1

71.8

142.6

Wczesny Hosera

13.1

7.8

59.7

81.1

97.2

Wi¶niowy

14.0

8.7

62.6

88.3

101.2

Purpurat

9.3

5.9

63.0

51.0

94.7

Average

13.2

8.2

61.9

74.1

107.9

LSD0.05 cultivar

2.99

2.05

15.91

17.89

Significant differences between the investigated cultivars were proved to exist as regards the total and marketable yields. Considerably larger average leaves yield was obtained from plants of the following cultivars: ‘Wczesny Hosera’ (13.1 kg·plant-1), ‘Koral’ (13.5 kg·plant-1), ‘Wi¶niowy’ (14.0 kg·plant-1) and ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ (15.8 kg·plant-1) as compared with cultivar ‘Purpurat’ (9.3 kg·plant-1). As regards the marketable yield, the cultivar ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ appeared to be distinguishable, 10.3 kg·plant-1 of petiole yield was obtained from its plants. The smallest marketable yield was obtained from the cultivar ‘Purpurat’ (5.9 kg·plant-1 on average). The average marketable yield of the remaining cultivars was from 7.8 kg·plant-1 (‘Wczesny Hosera’) to 8.7 kg·plant-1 (‘Wi¶niowy’). A high marketable yield from cultivation of the cultivar ‘Karpow Lipskiego’, as compared to the other c ultivars, was also obtained by Kmiecik [7] in the research done in Southern Poland.

In the present paper the yielding of the investigated rhubarb cultivars varied as regards the share of marketable yield in total yield. The largest was distinguished in the cultivar ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ (61.4%), the smallest in the cultivars ‘Wczesny Hosera’ (59.7%) and ‘Koral’ (59.9%). On the basis of the results and observation, it can be inferred that the share of commercial yield in total yield is determined by the number of leaves gathered from one plant and by the mass of the petiole, which is the feature connected with the cultivar. In the research it was shown that the petioles of the cultivar ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ (142.6 g on average) are considerably superior to the other cultivars in respect of the average petiole mass. The average petiole mass of those cultivars ranges from 94.7 g (‘Purpurat’) to 103.9 g (‘Koral’). The results of previous research on rhubarb yielding show that the earliness of the yield and the structure considerably depend on the characteristics of cultivar [3, 8, 9 , 12].

Other authors had stated before that the quantity of petiole yield depends to a large extent on the number of gathered leaves [6, 10]. The results obtained in the present work correspond to those by Golińska and Majlert [6, 10]. In the conducted research the fewest petioles were gathered from the plants of the cultivar ‘Purpurat’ (51.0 on average), from the cultivation of which the lowest marketable yield was obtained, as compared with the other cultivars. With better yielding cultivars definitely more petioles were gathered from one plant: from 71.8 per plant (‘Karpow Lipskiego’) to 88.3 per plant (‘Wi¶niowy’). The investigated cultivars varied as far as the early yield was concerned (table 3).

Table 3. Structure of early yield of five rhubarb cultivars (in years 1996-1998 on average)

Cultivar

Total early yield of leaves (kg·plant-1)

Marketable early yield of petioles (kg·plant-1)

Share of early yield in total yield of petioles (%)

Number of petioles in early yield
(per plant)

Average mass of petiole in early yield (g)

Koral

7.5

4.5

54.7

36.5

118.6

Karpow Lipskiego

7.7

4.9

49.0

32.6

148.2

Wczesny Hosera

7.7

4.6

58.5

44.1

107.9

Wi¶niowy

5.8

3.7

40.9

34.2

101.3

Purpurat

5.1

3.4

57.9

27.0

100.3

Average

6.8

4.2

52.2

34.9

115.3

LSD0.05 cultivar

1.53

1.06

 

7.70

25.73

A large total early yield was gathered from the plants of cultivars: ‘Koral’, ‘Wczesny Hosera’, ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ from 7.5 to 7.7 kg·plant-1. A small early leaves yield was obtained from the plants of ‘Purpurat’ (5.1 kg·plant-1) and ‘Wi¶niowy’ (5.8 kg·plant-1). Considerably the largest average marketable yield of petioles was obtained from the production of the cultivar ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ (4.9 kg·plant-1) and the smallest from the cultivars ‘Purpurat’ (3.4 kg·plant-1) and ‘Wi¶niowy’ (3.7 kg·plant-1). The value of the average marketable yield of the remaining cultivars amounted to 4.5 kg·plant-1 (‘Koral’) and 4.6 kg·plant-1 (‘Wczesny Hosera’). Analyzing the share of the early commercial yield in the total marketable yield it was pointed out that the largest share was characteristic of the yielding of the cultivar ‘Wczesny Hosera’ (58.5%), but also of the weakly yielding ‘Purpurat’ (57.9%). The smallest s hare of the early yield in the total marketable yield was characteristic of the yielding of the cultivar ‘Wi¶niowy’ (40.9%). On this basis it can be inferred that are most useful for the cultivation intended for direct consumption, because of the amount of their early yields ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ and ‘Wczesny Hosera’. The petioles of the cultivar ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ were distinguishable from the early yield in respect of the average mass (148.2 g), and from the plants of the cultivar ‘Wczesny Hosera’ in the early yield the largest average number of petioles from a single plant was obtained (44.1 per plant). The results of this research confirm those by Wróblewska [14], who proved in cultivar research on rhubarb that the largest early yield is ensured by those rhubarb cultivars from plants of which the largest number of leaves is obtained.

CONCLUSIONS

  1. In the years 1996–1998 essential differences in the yielding of five rhubarb cultivars were shown.

    - The highest marketable yield was obtained from the cultivation of ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ (10.3 kg·plant-1), whereas the smallest from ‘Purpurat’ (5.9 kg·plant-1).
    - The most petioles, on average, were gathered from the plants of the cultivar ‘Wi¶niowy’ (88.3 per plant) and ‘Wczesny Hosera’ (81.1 per plant), while the fewest from the cultivar ‘Purpurat’ (51.0 per plant).
    - The cultivar ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ was distinguishable by the petioles of decidedly greater average mass (142.6 g) in comparison to the others cultivars (94.7-107.9 g).

  2. In respect of the quantity of the early marketable yield the cultivars: ‘Karpow Lipskiego’ (4.9 kg·plant-1 on average), ‘Wczesny Hosera’ (4.9 kg·plant-1) and ‘Koral’ (4.5 kg·plant-1) appeared to be most useful for the cultivation with the petioles intended for direct consumption.

REFERENCES

  1. Boswell V. R. 1966. Rhubarb production outdoors and in. Leaflet No. 354. U.S. Department of Agriculture.

  2. Buczkowska H., Sałata A. 1997. Effect of weather conditions and soil mulching on yielding of rhubarb. All-Polish Conference “Improvements in production of vegetable crops”. Olsztyn, June, 24-25th 1997, 38-41 [in Polish].

  3. Buczkowska H., Sałata A. 1998. Effect of various agrotechnological processes on the earliness of yielding of rhubarb. Zesz. Nauk. AT-R Bydgoszcz 215/42, 29-32 [in Polish].

  4. Buczkowska H., Sałata A. 1999. Effect of weather conditions on yielding of rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum L.). Zesz. Probl. Post. Nauk Rol. 466, 249-257 [in Polish].

  5. Foust C. M., Marshal D. E. 1991. Culinary rhubarb production in North America: History and recent statistics. HortScience 26, 1360-1363.

  6. Golińska J. 1948. Results of cultivar experiment on rhubarb. Pam. Państ. Inst. Nauk Gosp. Wiej. 3, C, 204-218 [in Polish].

  7. Kmiecik W. 1974. Comparison of economic value of five rhubarb cultivars in production in Southern Poland. Zesz. Nauk. AR Krak. Ogrod. 90, 3-19 [in Polish].

  8. Loughton A. 1965. Effects of environment on bud growth of rhubarb, with particular reference to low temperature. J. Hortic. Sci. 40, 325-339.

  9. Loughton A. 1969. Rhubarb forcing. Ontario Department of Agriculture and Food. Parliament Buildings. Toronto, 346.

  10. Majlert W. 1938. Research on three rhubarb cultivars concerning their yielding, morphological features and chemical changes occurring during the vegetative period. Rocz. Nauk Ogrod. 5, 1-33 [in Polish].

  11. Maynard D. M. 1990. Annual rhubarb production in Florida. Proc. Fla. State Hortic. Soc. 103, 343-346.

  12. Sałata A. 2001. Yielding of several rhubarb cultivars (Rheum rhaponticum L.) depending on age of plantation. Fol. Hort., Ann. 13/1A, 399-403 [in Polish].

  13. Schaffer G. 1978. Rhubarb rhubarb – the new way of growing. Hort. Ind., December, 9-10.

  14. Wróblewska Z. 1965. Results of experiment conducted on four rhubarb cultivars in years 1952-1960. Biul. Warz. 8, 87-96 [in Polish].


Submited:
Halina Buczkowska, Andrzej Sałata
Department of Vegetable Crops and Medicinal Plant
Agricultural University in Lublin
58 Leszczyńskiego, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
tel. (+48 81) 533 82 41
e-mail: salata@consus.ar.lublin.pl

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