Relation between stem number and diameter, plant height and vigor and yield of asparagus

Abstract

The evaluation of spear yield of asparagus requires time and money. Stalk number and diameter, plant vigor and height, and spear yield were evaluated, in order to determine correlations among such variables. Cultivars and hybrids constituted by staminate and pistillate plants or only by staminate plants were compared. In the first case, yield was positively correlated with all variables, except stalk number. In staminate plants, however, spear yield was positively correlated only with plant vigor. In both cases, vigor and number of stalks with diameter larger than 8 mm presented the highest contribution to spear yield.