Influence of Source and Time of Potassium Application on Potato Growth, Yield, Economics and Crisp Quality

Abstract

Field studies were conducted at the Central Potato Research Institute Campus, Modipuram (India), during two seasons (2003-2004 and 2004-2005), with two processing cultivars (cvs Kufri Chipsona-1 and Kufri Chipsona-2) and nine combinations of potassium source (K-chloride, K-sulphate and K-nitrate) and time of K application (basal dressing, split application and split application + foliar spray) to investigate their effect on tuber yield and processing attributes for crisp production under subtropical conditions. Yearly variations were observed for most of the variables studied. Between cultivars, the tuber and biomass yield was higher in cv. Kufri Chipsona-1, whereas specific gravity, tuber dry-matter percentage and crisp recovery were higher in cv. Kufri Chipsona-2. Stem number, plant height and compound leaf number were not influenced by sources of K fertilizer or application time. Processing-grade tuber yield, total tuber yield and biomass yield were statistically similar for K-chloride and K-sulphate and lower for K-nitrate. K sources affected both specific gravity and tuber dry-matter percentage significantly; Ksulphate and K-nitrate gave significantly higher values than K-chloride. The application time had no significant effect on processing grade and total tuber yield or on tuber specific gravity and dry-matter percentage. Values for crisp colour and reducing sugars were within the acceptable range for all treatments. Crisp yields were calculated to be highest and oil percentage of the crisps to be lowest when Ksulphate was applied as K fertilizer. Net income and benefit:cost ratio were highest for K-chloride followed by K-sulphate and lowest for K-nitrate. The study suggests that for crisping potatoes, K-sulphate is more suited than K-chloride, as it not only increased tuber dry-matter percentage and crisp yield, but also decreased crisp oil percentage.

Effect of Boron and Sulphur Application on Postharvest Quality after Storage and Reconditioning of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

“…Potato is consume almost daily by more than a billion people and used as vegetable, stock feed and in industries for manufacturing starch, alcoholic beverages and other processed product (Lutaladio et al, 1995). Its cultivation is mounting strongly in the developing countries accounted for about 31.66%, where the ease of potato cultivation and nutritive content has made it a valuable food security and cash crop for millions of farmers (Anonymous, 2014).…”

“…Boron, an essential micronutrient, present in cellular form in the cell wall (Blevin and Lukaszewski, 1998), plays an important role in maintaining the structural integrity of plant membrane (Pilbeam and Kirkby, 1983) and enhances absorption of calcium ion by improving uptake of it which results in reduce levels of common scab and other tuber diseases (Karlsson and Palta, 2006). Sulphur improves tuber quality through increased content of protein, starch, carotene, vitamin C and gives resistance against Streptomyces scabies and Rhizoctonia solani (Mishra and Srivastava, 2004;Klikocka et al, 2005;Kumar et al, 2007;Klikocka 2009a;Klikocka 2009b). Apart from the application of nutrients, storage (<5°C) and reconditioning (15-20°C) is essential for maintaining the level of sugar accumulated in tubers.…”

Performance of advanced potato clones: plant vigor, tuber yield and specific gravity

“…After plant senescence, at 110 days after planting, tubers were harvested and evaluated for the following yield traits: total tuber mass (kg/plot), commercial tuber mass (kg/plot), which were those with diameter above 45 mm and free of defects like cracks and second growth; average tuber mass (g); average mass of commercial tubers (g); total number of tubers; and number of commercial tubers. The specific gravity was evaluated using a hydrometer from the Snack Food Association (Kumar et al, 2007).…”

Adubação potássica e seu efeito residual sobre a produtividade e a qualidade de tubérculos de batata

“…A produção e a qualidade dos tubérculos de batata requerem adequada fertilização, especialmente de K, nutriente absorvido em grande quantidade pela planta (Nunes et al, 2006;Kumar et al, 2007). Assim, o adequado manejo da fertilização potássica é fundamental para a produção sustentável de batata (Alva et al, 2011).…”