Effects of simulated hail damage on yield and quality of flue-cured tobacco

Abstract

Tobacco crops were artificially damaged to simulate effects of hail in two series of experiments run over three years. In the first series, four treatments ranging from no damage to complete loss of leaves plus the apex were imposed when 5,10 or 15 leaves had unfolded. The performance of crops replanted or ratooned at the same stages was also measured. In the second series, the effects of lamina loss or midrib damage, or both in crops at early flowering were investigated. The first series showed that yield and quality were drastically reduced by severe damage at the 15 leaf stage. Yields where all the leaves were lost were only 940 kg/ha compared with controls yielding 2400 kg/ha. Replanted crops also yielded poorly at this stage (91 0 kg/ha) but ratooned crops produced satisfactory yields (1840 kg/ha) of good quality leaf. However, ratooning led to significant delays in harvest. In the second series, yields decreased from 2370 and 2030 to 161 0 kg/ha with loss of one-third and two-thirds of the lamina tissue, respectively. Damage to midribs caused additional losses of up to 400 kg/ha. However, only the most severe loss of lamina tissue depressed leaf quality.