Processing Potato Growth Performance as Affected by Foliar Application of Seaweed Extract and Boron

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a leading staple food in the diet of the world population and providing of regular caloric requirements for human and deliver many essential elements, and vitamins including K, P, Mn, Mg, foliate, vit. C, and vit. B 6 . Increasing its potential yield could be hypothesized via environmental friendly agricultural supplements as seaweed extracts (SWEs) instead of mineral fertilization, and certain micronutrients as boron (B).Therefore, two field experiments were carried out during both seasons of 2016 / 2017 and 2017 / 2018, in a private farm, at El-Nobaria region, El-Behiera Governorate, Egypt, under open field conditions in sandy soil to investigate the effects of two independent variable as SWE (control, 1000 and 2000 mg/l),and B (control, 25, 50 and 75 mg/l) and their combinations on the growth performance (i.e. vegetative growth-related attributes and the yield) of 'Caruso' potato cultivar. Both conducted experiments were factorial experiments laid out in randomized complete blocks design (RCBD), with three replicates. Each replicate included 12 treatments. All determined treatments were distributed randomly within each block. Foliar application of SWE B at 2000; brought about the highest mean values of the studied vegetative growth attributes (plant height [cm] and number of main stems / plant) compare with the other treatments during both seasons. Likewise, pertaining the tuber yield, the same combination; led to the highest mean values for number of tubers / plant, tuber fresh weight / plant (g), total yield / feddan, as compared with control treatment during both seasons. Hence, the above-mentioned combination is the appropriate for both tested independent variables for the best growth performance of the tested dependent variable (i.e., vegetative and yield attributes of the given cultivar).Nevertheless, applying SWE at 2000 mg / l × B at 50 mg / l; brought about the best potato for processing.