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Bull. Spec. CORESTA Congress, Guangzhou 1988, p. 115, A-34

Harvesting techniques for Burley tobacco

PIRO P.; CONTILLO R.; VARDABASSO A.
Istituto Sperimentale per il Tabacco, Scafati, Italy
The aim of this study was to compare some techniques for harvesting burley tobacco in relation to crop yield and quality characteristics of the product. Seven harvest treatments were tested, in sub-plots, over a factorial layout of two cultivars x three nitrogen x three density levels, in main plots. Harvest treatments were : a) three stage priming of untopped plants; b,c,d) once-over priming and e,f,g) stalk-cutting at 10, 20, and 30 days after topping. Observations were made on green matter distribution among plant parts, cured yield, and some chemical and physical traits. Cured tobacco yield decreased, and cured/fresh ratio increased, linearly with the topping-harvesting interval in once-over priming, but not in stalk-cutting treatments. On the average, three-stage priming and stalk-cut gave comparable yields, which were higher than those obtained with once-over priming. The decrease of yield in the latter treatments was counterbalanced to a certain extent by N f ertilization, but was enhanced by density. (Nitrogen )