Yield Stability of Selected Potato Cultivars Under Mulch and Fungicide Applications Across Different Environments

Abstract

Smallholder farmers’ yields fluctuate yearly due to the variability of climate, resources, and diseases. The study aimed to assess genotypes-by-environment interactions under different management practices using additive main effects and multiplicative interaction models. Potato cultivars (Mondial, Electra, Sababa, and Panamera) were grown in five environments (Mbalenhle, Hlathikhulu, Mbhava, Stezi, and Gobizembe) for three seasons (2021–2023). Potatoes were planted under mulch (non-mulched and mulched) and fungicide (sprayed and unsprayed) management practices. The results revealed that the genotype–environment effect had a minimal contribution to tuber yield, ranging from 8.42% to 11.01% across management practices. For instance, in the absence of fungicide application with mulch and non-mulched practices, resulted in genotype effects of 69.92% and 60.62% and environments effects of 20.52% and 30.95%, respectively.