Influence of harvest time in accumulation of biomass between cassava cultivars

Lack of cultivar adapted to the planting area, as the ideal harvest period undertakes the productive potential of cassava. The study was conducted to evaluate the influence of different harvest seasons on total production of fresh and dry weight of four cassava cultivars. The used cultivars were: Branca de Santa Catarina (BSC), IAC 13, IAC 14-18 and Fiber that they were planted on 09/20/11 at the headquarters of the Regional Center Valley Paranapanema Paulista Agency for Agribusiness Technology (APTA), in Assis, Sao Paulo. The experimental design was completely randomized in 4x6 (four cultivars and six harvest seasons) factorial schemes with four replicates, being 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 months after planting (MAP) the harvest season, totaling 24 treatments and 48 installments. The total production of fresh biomass (FB) and dry matter (DM) in tons per hectare of 12 plants per harvest season was evaluated. Regarding the production of FB as DM among cultivars was not observed significant differences between them. However, the cultivars showed accumulation of FB linearly. The best time to harvest in order to higher accumulation of DM occurred at 12 and 24 months, corresponding to the end of the first and second round of cassava cultivation, respectively.   Key words: Manihot esculenta Crantz, precocity, production potential.