Abstract

Frafra potato (Solenostemon rotundifolius) is a herbaceous root tuber that is grown mainly in the northern part of Ghana. It is used as a hunger crop and brewed for alcoholic beverages. In spite of the socio-economic importance of this crop, little research aimed at improving the crop and its small tuber size has been carried out. In an effort to improve upon the agronomic performance of frafra potato, a randomized complete block design was used to conduct an experiment to determine the possibility of grafting and budding the crop. Approach, Cleft and splice graftings and budding, using dormant and actively growing buds were used to bud the crop. With the exception of the approach grafting, all the grafted plants from cleft and splice grafting produced leaves and shoots. The splice grafting recorded the highest number of leaves and plant survival. The dormant buds used in budding recorded higher number of leaves, longer shoots and plant survival. Only the approach grafted plants established union between the stocks and the scion, while the cleft and splice grafting failed to establish a union. The experiment demonstrated the potential of mixing the genetic materials of different frafra potato materials through grafting. The experiment may be improved through the use of auxin to induce the union of stock and scion.

Key words: Frafra potato, small tuber size, grafting and budding.