Influence of Intra-Row Spacing, Training and Pruning on Performance of Vine Spinach (Basella Alba L) in Western Kenya

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Basella alba L is a highly nutritious indigenous leafy vegetable besides medicinal benefits as compared to other leafy vegetables. Locally known as ‘Enderema’ in Luhya (Western Kenya) has the potential to alleviate malnutrition among communities in Western Kenya and beyond. However, production is limited by a number of factors, including competition for land area with other crops, lack of skills in preparation for consumption and storage, unavailability of seed and lack of appropriate husbandry practices. In order to promote production, an experiment was conducted to evaluate training, spacing and pruning effect on biomass production. Three types of training and spacing and two types of pruning were evaluated. A one season experiment was laid in a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates in two sites in Busia and Bungoma counties. All plots were applied with Farm yard manure and Mavuno planting fertilizer (N P K Cao Mg S) after soil analysis. Data was collected and subjected to analysis of variance at (P <0.05) using SAS Mixed linear model version 2012. The parameters measured included Plant height, Number of leaves, Number of branches at 88 Days after Transplanting (DAT). Analysis of variance indicate that trellising gave the highest plant height (54 cm), Number of leaves (34), Number of branches (25) and dry matter (28 tons/ha). While no staking, no pruning and intra-row spacing of 15 cm gave the lowest plant height, Number of leaves and Number of branches and dry matter. Bumala and Kabuchai showed similar trends. The best combination is the interaction of trellising, double stem pruning and intra-row spacing of 20 cm which gave mean plant height of 54 cm and dry matter (33 tons/ha). From the present study I recommend a combination of intra-row spacing of 20 cm, double stem pruning and trellising for optimum yield. A study on the most economical and appropriate training method to establish viable and farmer friendly method.