Response of growth and production of potato plants to application of NPK fertilizer

Abstract

Fertilizer is one of the determining factors for the success of potato cultivation. Various types of fertilizers have been produced, but those that are suitable for regional conditions in North Sulawesi do not yet exist. The decreasing of potato production in North Sulawesi is due to the limited use of quality and certified seeds, as well as inappropriate fertilizer dosages. This research objective was to see the effect of NPK fertilization on the production of Medians potato plants. The research was conducted from August to December 2020, in Rurukan Village, East Tomohon District, Tomohon City, North Sulawesi. The experimental design used was randomized complete block design (RCBD) with seven treatments, namely the NPK fertilizer dosage of 0 kg ha-1 (P0), 150 kg ha-1 (P1), 300 kg ha-1 (P2), 450 kg ha-1 (P3), 600 kg ha-1 (P4), 750 kg ha-1 (P5) and 900 kg ha-1 (P6). Each treatment was repeated three times and resulting in 21 treatment plots. The results showed that application of NPK fertilizer of 450 kg ha-1 resulted the highest yields on the components of weight of fresh plant, tuber diameter, and potato productivity.

Site Specific NPK Requirements of Potato

“…Most of the treatments showed higher accumulation of dry matter % compared to control which may be due to higher nutrient availability resulting in better growth and development of the plant (Gangwar and Dubey, 2012;Kumhar et al, 2012). The yield on tuber dry weight basis (kg ha -1 ) was found maximum in T 5 (524.24 kg ha -1 ) while the minimum yield on tuber dry weight basis was recorded in T 4 i.e., without N fertilizer (3,960.75 kg ha -1 ) which may be due to the lack of N as Nitrogen (N) is one of the most crucial macronutrients for plant growth and biomass development (Koch et al, 2020) thereby reducing the rate of photosynthesis of the plants (Tulung et al, 2021) resulting in a decrease of yield on tuber dry weight basis.…”