Regeneration Efficiency of Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) Based on Landrace, Age of Plant and Corm Type

Abstract

Domesticated enset primarily propagated through a vegetative method developed by farmers. A series of experiments were carried out to determine the optimal age of the parent plant, and to evaluate the shoot regenera- tion efficiency of enset landraces using different corm types. In the initial trial, four landraces (Bosso, Gudiro, Yekko, and Chikaro) and four age groups (one to four years old) of corms were used. The subsequent experiment involved three corm types: whole, halved, and quartered, arranged in a factorial combination with wild and three domesticated landraces (Gudiro, Bosso, and Yekko). In the first experi- ment, the highest number of shoots (465 shoots per corm) was observed in corms obtained from a three-year-old Yekko landrace, while the lowest number of shoots (42 shoots per corm) was obtained from a one-year-old corm of the Bosso landrace. In the second experiment, we noted significant dif- ferences in the ability to regenerate between landrace and corm types. The most prolific shoot multiplication rate (500 shoots per corm) was observed in quartered corms of the