Improving nutrient management in potato cultivation

Philip J. White

• Publisher: Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781786763792
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Agricultura sostenible

Potatoes require 14 mineral nutrients, which are often applied in fertilisers. This chapter describes management practices that maximise crop production and minimise nutrient losses to the environment. First, it describes the development of the crop and its temporal demands for macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, magnesium, calcium) and micronutrients (chlorine, boron, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, nickel, molybdenum), and current agronomic practices for delivering these. It then reports recent developments in precision management of potato crop nutrition, underpinned by geospatially referenced soil maps and application systems, which aim to optimise fertiliser inputs by addressing local heterogeneities in soil conditions and varying inputs across a cultivated area. Finally, it describes how agronomic strategies can be complemented by breeding cultivars with greater acquisition of mineral nutrients, by focussing on root characteristics, and better physiological utilisation of nutrients for tuber yields, by focussing on canopy architecture and nutrient or biomass partitioning within the plant.

Table of contents

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Demand of the potato crop for mineral nutrients
• 3 General fertiliser practice for potato mineral nutrition
• 4 Addressing requirements for specific nutrients
• 5 Precision management
• 6 Breeding for better acquisition and utilisation of nutrients
• 7 Future trends and conclusion
• 8 Where to look for further information
• 9 Acknowledgements
• 10 References