Agronomic practices with a special focus on transplanting methods for optimum growth and yield of enset [Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman] in Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction - Transplanting enset suckers or plants is practiced by the majority of small-scale farmers across the enset-growing belt in Ethiopia. Enset suckers, obtained from a multiplication nursery, are first intensely managed in a small plot (one plant 0.5-1.0 m(-2)) from where plants are consecutively transplanted into ever more widely spaced arrangements with a final minimal spacing of one plant 2-4 m(-2). This review summarizes relevant information on transplanting methods from randomized controlled field trials and on-farm observations. Results and discussion - Transplanting frequency impacts the crop cycle duration and yield. Transplanting once results in plants with a higher growth rate and hence a shorter crop cycle, while more frequent transplanting results in higher yields per plant. For example, plants transplanted once were harvested at 2 years and yielded 27 kg dry matter (DM) plant(-1), while plants transplanted two or three times were both harvested at 4.5 years and yielded, respectively, 44 and 31 kg DM plant(-1). Conclusion - This review endeavours to help determine the enset transplanting methods that give optimum growth, biomass production and yield.