Field trial on agave species

A trial designed to compare the fiber production of Agave sisalana, A. fourcroydes, A. amaniensis, A. letonae, A. zapupe, and A. sisalana f. marginatawas conducted from 1966 to 1974, at the Tatui Experimental Station, of the Instituto Agronômico, S. Paulo State, Brazil. A. zapupe was the first to pole, at the fourth year, being followed by A. letonae, A. amaniensis, A. sisalana, and A. sisalana f. marginata. A. fourcroydesdid not pole until the ninth year. The spacing adopted was 3 m x 1 m and each species produced per plant respectively: 2 kg for A. zapupe, 3 kg for A. amaniensis and A. letonae, 4 kg for A. sisalana and A. sisalana f. marginata, and 5 kg for A. fourcroydes of dried fiber. Considering the poling age A. sisalana gave the highest production, with the average of 582 g of dried fibers per year by plant.