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Influence of Harvesting Age and Genotype on Growth Parameters and Herbage Yield of Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) at Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia

Damtew Abewoy, Derbew Belew and Zewdinesh Damtew Zigene

The field experiment was carried out at Wondo Genet Agricultural Research Center (WGARC) in 2017 under irrigation condition to determine the effects of genotypes and harvesting ages on herbage yield of sweet basil. The experiment consisted of four harvesting ages (40, 60, 80 and 100 days after transplanting (DAT)) and three genotypes (B01, B04, and B05). A 3 × 4 factorial experiment arranged in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was used. The analysis of variance revealed that the interaction effect of genotype and harvesting age was not significant for plant height, primary and secondary branches of sweet basil. However, all other tested parameters were significantly affected by the interaction of genotype and harvesting ages. The highest leaf area and leaf weight/plant were obtained from genotype B01 harvested at 80 DAT. The maximum aboveground biomass was recorded from genotype B04 harvested at 100 DAT. Genotype B01 harvested at 80 DAT produced the highest fresh herbage yield/ha (16.00 t/ha), which however, was not statistically different from genotype B04 harvested at 100 DAT. On the other hand, the highest dry herbage yield (3.10 t/ha) was produced from genotype B04 harvested at 100 DAT followed by genotype B01 harvested at 80 DAT (2.78 t/ha) and 100 DAT (2.72 t/ha). Therefore, genotype B04 harvested at 100 DAT can be recommended for maximum herbage yield of basil at Wondo Genet area. Since the present experiment was conducted under irrigation condition, further study is suggested to assess the effect of season on herbage yield of this plant under Wondo Genet condition.