Manuscript Title:

ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT AGRONOMIC PRACTICES ON POTATO (SOLANUM TUBEROSUM L.) GROWTH, YIELD, AND QUALITY FOR CHIPPING INDUSTRY

Author:

AKHTER MAHMOOD KHAN, MUHAMMAD BILAL CHATTHA

DOI Number:

DOI:10.5281/zenodo.10686286

Published : 2024-02-10

About the author(s)

1. AKHTER MAHMOOD KHAN - PhD, Department of Agronomy, Quaid e Azam Campus, University of The Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
2. MUHAMMAD BILAL CHATTHA - Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, Quaid e Azam Campus, University of The Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.

Full Text : PDF

Abstract

Cultural techniques such as planting time, ridge width, and fertilizer use influence potato tuber growth, yield, and quality. Additionally, the potato rate for the chipping sector is reduced by climate change. Three factors—sowing windows, ridge sizes, and three doses of potash fertilizer—were combined in a two-year study to evaluate the yield and quality of potatoes in progressive farmer fields in Punjab's Kasur area in the fall of 2017 and 2019. In comparison to early sowing in the middle of September, it was observed that sowing on October 15 and September 30 showed statistically significant increases in the following areas: germination percentage (90.0% & 89.24%), number of leaves per plant (45.84 & 53.35), plant vigor (3.13, 3.95), plant height (34.2 cm, 38.29 cm), large tuber weight (126.11 g, 153.79 g), average weight (61.43 g, 73.6 g), marketable yield (23.99, 24.26 t/ha), yield (27.82 t/ha), total solid (22.06%), specific gravity (1.03%), and less green tuber per plant (3.22%). There were notable results in agronomic and qualitative criteria for 95 cm and 115 cm ridge sizes. In contrast to the usual ridge size of 75 cm, which gave maximum green tubers per plant because of the break in the ridge that caused the tubers to become green, the treatments with ridge sizes of 115 cm and 95 cm displayed less green tubers per plant. Treatments with 125 kg ha-1 of potash produced the highest yield (21.91 t/ha) and greatly improved growth characteristics. Due to specific climatic conditions, a more vigorous reaction was seen in 2018 for agronomic qualities and quality traits compared to 2019. The results of this study indicate that, in the context of a changing environment, planting potatoes on September 30 at ridges spaced 95 cm apart and applying potassium fertilizer at a rate of 125 kg K ha-1 will result in the highest yield and highest quality of potatoes.


Keywords

Marketable Yield, Plant Vigor, Planting Window, Ridge Sizes, and Tuber Greening.