Offspring Power of Two Varieties of Xanthosoma sagittifolia (L.) Schott Subjected to the PIF Method under Goma Conditions

To contribute to the resolution of the problem relating to the low availability of propagation material in Xanthosoma sagittifolia (L.) Schott (Caribbean cabbage, Malanga or Macabo), the offsetting power of two varieties (green and violet) was evaluated by the method PIF under Goma conditions using bio-char (crushed charcoal) as a substrate. The experiment was carried out according to the experimental pairing device (couples method) comprising 2 treatments of 40 bulbs, corresponding to 40 repetitions for each treatment. The observations made during this investigation were mainly focused on the rate of recovery of the mother bulbs, the number of offspring, the diameter at the neck of the offspring formed during weaning and the longevity of the mother bulbs in the propagator. The results obtained showed that: 1. The recovery rate for mother bulbs was 100% regardless of the variety; 2. La The green variety produced more offspring than the purple variety with an average of 21.93 ± 1.13 versus 17.65 ± 1.38. These results indicate that the number of offspring produced does indeed depend on the variety tested (χ2 = 4922.58; P < 0.0001); 3. The bulbs of the green variety have a longer lifespan than the purple variety in the propagator with an average of 226 ± 54 days compared to 216 ± 7 days for the green variety. The results obtained from this analysis indicate that the longevity of the bulbs does indeed depend on the variety tested (662 = 89663.20; P < 0.0001); 4. The green variety was found to perform better under Goma conditions compared to the purple variety in terms of vigor of formed offspring