Yield response of potatoes to variable nitrogen management by landform element and in relation to petiole nitrogen – A case study

Abstract

response of potatoes to variable nitrogen management by landform element and in relation to petiole nitrogen Á A case study. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92: 771Á781.Recent increases in the cost of fertilizer N have prompted producers to assess the potential to vary inputs within fields and during the growing season to produce the highest marketable yield of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.). A study was conducted from 2005 to 2007 near Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, to assess the spatial variability of potato yield in upper, middle and lower landform elements on a sandy loam soil in response to a range of N fertilizer rates applied in the spring or in combination with an application during the growing season. There was no clear trend with respect to the effect of landform on potato yield. Nitrogen fertilizer increased total and marketable yield relative to the control at rates from 75 to 225 kg ha (1 in split applications or applied at seeding. No significant interaction between landform and fertilizer treatment was observed. Petiole N concentration, determined late in the growing season, was correlated with potato yield though the correlation varied considerably between years. Petiole leaflet N concentration was affected by fertilizer on most sampling dates, but decreased with time during the growing season. We conclude that although N fertilizer could be applied during the growing season based on petiole leaflet N concentration deficiencies in mid-July, there is no clear difference in potato yield due to split application relative to spring applications of N fertilizer at rates of 75 kg ha (1 or greater based on landform elements for potato production, likely due to the short growing season in western Canada. Key words: Potato yield, spatial variability, nitrogen management Moulin, A. P., Cohen, Y., Alchanatis, V., Tremblay, N. et Volkmar, K. 2012. Variation du rendement de la pomme de terre en fonction d'une gestion de l'azote d'apre`s le relief et la concentration d'azote dans le pe´tiole Á une e´tude de cas. Can. J. PlantSci. 92: 771Á781. L'escalade re´cente du prix des engrais azote´s incite les agriculteurs a`examiner s'ils pourraient modifier la quantite´d'engrais applique´e dans les champs de pommes de terre (Solanum tuberosum) et durant la pe´riode de croissance, cela dans l'espoir d'obtenir le meilleur rendement possible en tubercules commercialisables. De 2005 a`2007, les auteurs ont proce´de´a`une e´tude pre`s de Brandon, au Manitoba (Canada), afin d'e´valuer la variabilite´du rendement de la pomme de terre dans l'espace, c'est-a`-dire en terrain e´leve´, plat et creux. Les pommes de terre ont e´te´cultive´es sur un loam sablonneux et la culture a e´te´bonifie´e avec un taux variable d'engrais N, applique´au printemps uniquement ou au printemps et pendant la pe´riode ve´ge´tative. Le relief ne pre´sente aucune incidence nette sur le rendement. Les engrais azote´s augmentent le rendement global en tubercules et le rendement en tubercules commercialisables, comparativement aux parcelles te´moins quand on applique 75 ...

Soil‐ and Plant‐Based Indices in Potato Production in Response to Polymer‐Coated Urea

“…Petiole NO 3 –N concentrations at PCU rates ≥120 kg N ha −1 were always greater than the control in 2010 and 2011 and at 45 and 59 DAP in 2012; it was greater at 60 kg N ha −1 than the control only at 50 DAP in all years. The increase in petiole NO 3 –N concentrations in all years due to N application was previously reported in other studies, including where PCU was applied (Porter and Sisson, 1991; Bélanger et al, 2003; Moulin et al, 2012; Zebarth et al, 2012). Petiole NO 3 –N declined as the season progressed in all years (Fig.…”

Soil phosphorus spatial variability due to landform, tillage, and input management: A case study of small watersheds in southwestern Manitoba

“…Similarly, Nolan et al (2007) speculated that multiple years of constant-rate fertilizer application and soil homogenization by conventional tillage resulted in the lack of a relationship between extractable P and landform for a set of eight small watersheds studied in Alberta, Canada. The potential influence of landscape position on within-field variance was not explicitly examined by Bennett et al (2005), but given that relationships between landform and soil P have been observed in a variety of locations (Balkcom et al, 2005;Brubaker et al, 1993;Manning et al, 2001;Moulin et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2001) it can be expected that within-field variance should be higher for fields with more topographic variability. However, we hypothesize that any relationship to landform should be more predictable in the absence of fertilizer or manure input and tillage.…”

Site-specific machine learning predictive fertilization models for potato crops in Eastern Canada

“…In this study, GDD considered only daily mean temperatures higher than or equal to 5 °C as used by Parent et al [7]. Moulin et al [111] used a baseline of 7 °C and 30 °C as upper limit. Moreover, the general trend of SG response curves with respect to fertilization supported the results of Belanger et al [112], Zebarth et al [19] and Laboski and Kelling [113].…”