Performance of Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.) Genotypes with Respect to Morphological, Yield and Quality Traits at Two Localities of Nepal

Abstract

Lettuce is cultivated as minor crop in Nepal. However, people are becoming more health conscious in these days and demand for salad is increasing in food. The demand of lettuce is also gradually increasing but relatively few farmers are involved in this crop due to the lack of high-yielding and good quality genotypes. The research was conducted at two locations of Nepal; Kavre and Kaski with the aim of evaluating the performance of seven different hybrid lettuce genotypes in terms of its morphology, yield, and quality. The research was laid out on Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications at each location. Two types of lettuce were used on the research i.e. head type and leaf type. Among the head type, genotype Iceberg performed better with more plant spread (51 cm), head diameter (14.7 cm) and yield (738.4 g at Kavre and 725.8 g at Kaski) than other head type lettuce genotypes and among leaf type variety Green Oak was recorded with highest numbers of leaves (67 at Kavre and 40 at Kaski) and yield (572.3 g at Kavre and 641.9 g at Kaski). So, among head type lettuce genotypes Iceberg performed better as this had better plant spread, large head diameter, more yield and sweet flavor. Among leaf type genotypes Variety Green Oak was found most suitable for Nepali Market as this variety had highest number of leaves and yield among leaf type lettuce genotypes.

Adaptability of Lettuce (<i>Lactuca sativa</i> L.) Varieties in South Gondar, Ethiopia

“…In the same manner, the shortest leaf width (7.17cm) was observed on the variety RSK-3 at Fogera and the maximum value of leaf width (17.40cm) was recorded on Tesfa variety at Libokemkem site with the mean value of 11.4cm. Similarly, Januka et al [8] in Nepal found that leaf length and leaf width had showed a highly significant difference between locations and variety with the value of leaf length ranged from 14-25cm whereas leaf width ranged from13-20cm. Bewuket and Shewaye obtained the maximum leaf width of 11.22 cm from the variety named "Great Lake" at Wulkite university research site in Southern part of Ethiopia [16].…”

“…Lettuce is produced commercially in many countries and is also widely grown as a vegetable in home gardens [9]. The main producers of lettuce in the world are the USA, Spain, Italy, Japan and, France [8].…”