Influence of plant density and hilling on yield and profitability of arrowroot

Abstract

The global production of arrowroot is minimal, and this may be partially associated to the lack of standardized agronomic techniques for its commercial cultivation. This study aimed to assess the yield and profitability of arrowroot plants (‘Comum’ cultivar) grown using different plant spacings in the cropping row (20 cm, 25 cm, 30 cm and 35 cm) and a varying number of hilling applications (0, 1 and 2). The treatments were arranged in a 4 x 3 factorial scheme, in a randomized experimental block design, with six replications. After harvesting, the fresh and dry matter yields of leaves, rhizomes and roots were determined. Production costs and gross and net incomes were also calculated. The highest yields for fresh leaves (8.75 t ha^-1), rhizomes (32.92 t ha^-1) and roots (8.45 t ha^-1) were obtained with a plant spacing of 20 cm. No interaction between the factors, neither significant differences for the use or not of hilling, were observed on the analyzed variables. The costs per hectare ranged from BRL 8,488.83 (35 cm without hilling) to BRL 10,376.23 (20 cm with two hillings). The highest yields and gross and net incomes were obtained with the spacing of 20 cm between plants.