Residue Mulch Effects on Potato Productivity and Irrigation and Nitrogen Economy in a Subtropical Environment

Abstract

Depleting water resources in many regions of the world and increasing fertilizer nitrogen (N) cost necessitate efficient resource use. This is crucial in shallow-rooted crops like potato due to a great probability of water and N loss. In Indian Punjab, autumn potato experiences high temperature at planting time that causes poor growth and tuber yield. Mulching with crop residues provides favorable soil hydrothermal conditions that may enhance yield and economize irrigation and N use. This study examined the combined effects of residue mulch, irrigation, and N regimes on potato productivity in two soils in a subtropical environment of north-west India. Treatments included combinations of two mulch rates (0 and 6 t ha −1 rice residues) in main plots, three irrigation regimes (irrigation water to pan evaporation ratio of 2.0, 1.4, and 0.8 in the sandy loam and 2.0, 1.5, and 1.0 in the loamy sand) in subplots and four N rates (0, 135, 180, and 225 kg ha −1 ) in sub-subplots with three replications. Potato was planted in the second week of October with recommended doses of P 2 O 5 and K 2 O and harvested in the last week of January. Tuber yield was higher in the sandy loam than in the loamy sand soil reflecting effects of available water capacity and inherent fertility. Mulching improved tuber yield by 22% on the sandy loam and by 31% on the loamy sand. Irrigation benefits were more in the sandy loam (20%) than in the loamy sand (14%). Nitrogen response was also greater in the sandy loam soil. Interactions between mulching and irrigation showed that yield gains from mulching were greater in less frequent irrigation regimes. For a given yield, mulching saved 90-100 mm of irrigation water. Mulching benefits were also greater at low N regimes, demonstrating a saving of 90 kg N ha −1 for a given yield. Mulching and N enhanced water productivity (WP), and these effects were greater in less frequent irrigations. Mulching effects on tuber yield, irrigation, and N economy are attributed to its effects on moderation of soil temperature and reduction in soil water evaporation.Potato Research

Integrating Straw Management and Seeding to Improve Seed Yield and Reduce Environmental Impacts in Soybean Production

“…In the present study, the soil water content in the top 0-20 cm of soil under IMP was significantly higher than that under FP on average, primarily as a consequence of straw mulching (Figure 3), which was consistent with the findings of Chang et al [36] and Deng et al [37] in the Loess Plateau of China and those of Singh et al [38] in a subtropical region of India. First, IMP decreased the soil temperature by reducing direct solar radiation owing to the straw mulching (Figure 2), thus reducing the evaporation of soil water.…”

“…Crop straw mulching techniques have been widely used in arid and semi-arid regions to improve crop yields [38,46,52,53]. In a study conducted in a semi-arid region, Chang et al [36] showed that straw strip mulching increased the yields of potato by 22.3% on average compared with traditional practices (bare soil).…”

Straw strip mulching affects soil moisture and temperature for potato yield in semiarid regions

“…Potato is a shallow‐rooted and cool‐season crop, and temperature is the key factor that affects the tuber bulking and the balance between the vine and tuber growth of potato plants (MacKerron et al., 1986; Zhang et al., 2017). Potato growth is optimum when mean air temperature is around 15–18°C during the cropping cycle (Singh, Singh, Arora, & Sekhon, 2015). Appropriate temperature is crucial to increasing potato yield and RBT (Li et al., 2018; WoLi et al., 2018).…”

Poultry litter and fresh mulch of Elephant grass improve the organic potato production

“…Organic mulch on potato crop is a technique that can reduce the erosion and loss of soil organic matter, NO 3 --N and available P, K, Ca and Mg by runoff, increasing the total and marketable tubers yields (Rees et al 2002). Mulching with organic residues decreases the soil thermal amplitude and soil water evaporation, thus increasing the N uptake and the efficiency of the N fertilization to enhance higher potato tuber yields (Singh et al 2015). Besides this buffer effect on the soil hydrothermal conditions, organic mulching also adds plant nutrients to the soil after decomposition, but also can immobilize N by microorganisms (Kader et al 2017) and, therefore, reduces the NO 3 --N leaching to the soil profile (Döring et al 2005).…”