Impact of Harvesting Management on Cassava Foliage and Tuber Yield and Nutritive Values

Abstract

The purpose of the experiment was to ascertain how various harvesting times affected the chemical makeup and productivity of cassava (foliage and tuber). For the IH3 + FH and IH5 + FH treatments, two distinct ages of cassava leaf at the time of initial harvesting—three and five months, respectively—were used. Over the course of seven months, the final harvests of these two treatments were completed, including the tuber. As a control treatment, cassava leaves were collected once during the seven-month root harvest (FH). In both cassava foliage and tuber, the control treatment had the lowest hydrocyanic acid potential (HCNp) concentration, whereas the IH3 + FH treatment had the greatest HCNp content. The leaves had higher levels of HCNp and crude protein (CP) than the petiole and stem of the foliage, while the cortex of the cassava tuber had higher levels of these components than the parenchyma. Crude fiber (CF) contents showed the reverse tendency, with the petiole and stem having higher CF levels than the leaves. In comparison to IH3 + FH and FH, the IH5 + FH treatment produced the most total foliage and protein production. In this trial, the FH treatment yielded the most tubers (15268 kg/ha), followed by IH5 + FH (11567 kg/ha). Gross energy content in the leaves and tuber is 4709 kcal/kg on average (range: 4608-4783 kcal/kg) and 3857 kcal/kg on average (range: 3842-3881 kcal/kg), respectively. The IH5 + FH treatment produces the best foliage yield, high CP, and low fiber content throughout both harvest dates when considering both yield and proximate analytical data.