Performance of asparagus under the desert conditions of Arabian Peninsula: A pilot study

Abstract: The performance of asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) under the desert conditions of the Arabian Peninsula was evaluated. Ten cultivars introduced from six countries were studied. Two months old seedlings were transplanted into field plots in February 2007 and spears produced in the second year were harvested over a period of four weeks. Significant differences were found among cultivars for the number and quality of spears. The average number of spears harvested per plant varied between 5.0 and 26.4 and the spear yield between 36.3 and 159.2 g plant^-1. The spear number and yield were highest in cultivar PI 277824. Seed yields from the first year of harvest varied from 29.7 to 136.2 g plant^-1 among cultivars. In many cultivars, spear yields obtained in the second year were comparable to the yields reported from the productive environments in the tropics. The results show that asparagus has considerable potential for cultivation under the desert conditions of the Arabian Peninsula.