Potassium: A Vital Macronutrient in Potato Production—A Review

Abstract

Potassium (K) is a primary macronutrient for overall plant growth, yield potential, product quality and stress resistance of crops. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) crops require a high amount of potassium to achieve the ideal yield and quality. Therefore, the determination of optimum K rate and efficient source for potato is necessary because K affects crop physiological processes, dry matter production, cooking, and processing requirements. Through modeling on the pooled data extracted from 62 studies, the highest tuber yields might be obtained at an exchangeable soil K level of 200 mg kg−1 approximately, dependent on soil pH, texture, and organic matter. Through modeling on the data of 48 studies, it also revealed that application of potassium sulfate (K2SO4) and potassium chloride (KCl) at rates of 200 kg ha−1 and potassium nitrate (KNO3) at a rate of 100 kg ha−1 might achieve the ideal yield, implying the importance of K sources in potato production. However, these values (either soil exchangeable K content, or fertilizer rates) might not be applicable in a specific growing environment for a specific potato variety. It seems that there is no discrimination among split, pre-plant or in-season application of K, although pre-plant fertilization might be a trustworthy strategy for economic tuber yield. Owing to the luxury consumption of K by potato crop, a combination of factors, including soil exchangeable K level, petiole K concentration, crop removal amount, soil conditions, management practices, climatic conditions, and potato variety, should be considered in order to make rational K fertilizer recommendations.

Effects of the bio-fertilizers on potato mini tubers number and size produced from tissue culture plants

“…Moreover, this nutrient improves cell growth, leaves expansion, transport between source and sink organs (Lee and Ryu, 2021). Additionally, NPK facilitates the diffusion of carbon dioxide (CO2) through the leaf mesophyll, which plays a crucial role in photosynthesis and chlorophyll content (Torabian et al, 2021). Many research, reported the positive effect of mycorrhizal fungi in the agricultural system; it is a solution that improves the efficiency of phosphate used and contributes to the absorbance of potassium from soil (Sawers et al, 2010).…”

“…It is considered one of the most economical crops due to its high yield and returns, but this yield is still insufficient to cover all the world's needs. The yield and quality of potato tubers are affected by many distinct factors such as genetics (cultivar properties), soil fertility, weather conditions, and chemical treatments (Torabian et al, 2021).…”

Psychrotolerant Mesorhizobium sp. Isolated from Temperate and Cold Desert Regions Solubilizes Potassium and Produces Multiple Plant Growth Promoting Metabolites

“…Approximately 10% of the soil K consists of the interlayer of the non-expanded form of K-bearing minerals, such as illite, mica, and feldspar [ 7 , 8 ]. Among the diverse K forms in soil, the concentration of soluble K is usually deficient (1 to 2%) [ 9 , 10 ]. Plants primarily absorb K from the soil, and its availability is generally governed by the K dynamics and its total content.…”

“…Near the roots, the soil solution is rapidly exhausted of nutrients due to removal by the plants [ 15 , 16 ]. Among the different K forms, the most available to plants and microbes are the soluble and exchangeable forms [ 10 ]. The available fraction of K is also susceptible to fixation through electrostatic attraction between negatively charged clay lattice layers and K + ions, besides expansive forces due to ion hydration [ 17 ].…”

Improving Potato Yield Prediction by Combining Cultivar Information and UAV Remote Sensing Data Using Machine Learning

“…Potato yield is typically associated with seed quality as well as site-specific interactions between cultivars and environment conditions. The effects of soil type [16], nutrients [17,18], crop management practices [19,20], cultivar [21,22], seed quality [1,23], and weather conditions [24][25][26] on potato production have been explored extensively. Recent studies that incorporated multi-source data in yield prediction and nitrogen (N) recommendations have achieved better results than studies based on remote sensing data alone.…”