Effects of nitrogen fertilization

on potato yields and Soil

nitrate Leaching

Daniela Marie Manabat

RESEARCHER
Introduction
Potato comes third behind rice and wheat as one of the most important food crops in the world
consumption by humans. According to reports, potato tubers are the underground swelling, starchy
tubers of the potato plant and are extremely popular as a staple diet for millions of people worldwide
the globe. In every type of plant tissue that is living tissue, nitrogen plays a vital role. There are no other
factors that have such an impact on marketing strong plant growth. Rich in protein has the tendency to
make the leaves bigger, which leads to a rise in the synthesis of carbohydrates. As stated by According
to certain studies, the output of potatoes is limited by several reasons, including One notable example is
the improper application of nitrogen fertilizers. Consequently, farmers grow potatoes for food in Rain-
fed crop conditions. There isn't a comprehensive recommendation for nitrogen fertilizers, though.
Hence. The gold standard nitrogen fertilizer rates are not disclosed. Fertilizer supply and rate for
nitrogen Significant interactions were found in all vegetative development parameters as measured by
plant length, leaf number per plant, and leaf area. Plant weights when clean and dry, plant area, and leaf
chlorophyll content. The sum will rise as the nitrogen rate does full tuber yield, marketable tuber yield,
marketable whole tuber yield, and average tuber weight when the nitrogen utility rate increases. The
rising availability of marketable goods along with the Application of nitrogen is associated with a
decrease in the size of small-diameter tubers because it increases in the character tubers' weight.
Due to the rapid growth of potatoes, n fertility management is a crucial aspect of the potato farming
reaction of the potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). The low fertilizer use efficiency (Zebarth et al., 2004)
and the low cost of fertilizer relative to the value of any additional yield produced by high rates of
fertility lead growers to add a lot of fertilizer which may not be fully used by the crop. Overuse of N
fertilizer might be harmful impact the tuber's quality (e.g. specific gravity) and cause N to leach, which
results in economic waste and the possibility of adverse environmental effects. Strategies for managing
nitrogen have been put forth to lessen the risk of NO3 Potato leaching production, including the use of
controlled-release fertilizer products or organic farming, divided fertilizer N application(Hopkins et al.,
2008)., and However, due to the complexity of the leaching process, there is no substitute for fertilizers.
The NO3-leaching issue has a single, straightforward solution. For medium-textured soils in Atlantic
Canada under rain-fed production, split application of N fertilizer resulted in the loss of tuber yield and
reduction of N use efficiency only under dry soil conditions (Zebarth et al., 2004) but the effect of split
N application on NO3 - leaching has not yet been examined. There are no studies on the effect of
controlled-release fertilizer products on NO3 - leaching in the region. Previous studies have
demonstrated the usage of chicken manure in potato production, but especially on how it affects tuber
output, quality, and soil improvement. Characteristics of NO3 (Rees et al., 2011) Leaching's cause is yet
unknown. This investigation looked at how various fertilizer sources, application rates, and procedures
affected 1-tubers quality and output, and NO3 Leaching losses in Atlantic Canada's potato crop using
rain-fed irrigation.
Scientific Bases

Content
A 2-year field trial with a randomized complete block design with four replications was conducted in
New Brunswick, Canada to evaluate N fertilization effects on potato tuber yields and quality as well as
soil nitrate leaching. Eight N fertilizer treatments were examined, including three N sources (i.e.
conventional, controlled-release and organic fertilizers) at two application rates (100 and 200 kg N ha), a
split application of conventional fertilizer at the high rate and a zero N fertilizer input as control.
Application of N-fertilizer significantly increased tuber yield (by 76% maximum) and quality over the
unfertilized treatments whereas differences between the two N fertilizer application rates were
nonsignificant. Fertilizer use efficiency varied from 16% to 56% over treatments and years. Low
application rates resulted in lower seasonal soil and soil solution NO3 concentrations than high
application rates. The controlled-release and organic form of fertilizer both reduced seasonal mean soil
and soil solution N concentrations than conventional fertilizer, with low leaching potential.
Procedure

The experiment fields were planted around June 3 in each year with band application of the conventional
and CRF fertilizer treatments on each side (5 cm depth and 5 cm from row centre) of the potato row. The
organic fertilizer was manually banded at planting. All treatments received 150 kg ha-1 of P2O5 and K2O,
banded at planting using the planter. Hand-cut Russet Burbank seed pieces weighing approximately 49 g
were handplanted at 0.91 m between row spacing and 0.41 m in-row spacing. Weed control and pest
management followed standard methods for commercial rainfed potato production. On September 30, 2004
and October 3, 2005, four adjacent plants from the two rows in the middle of each plot were harvested, and
the plant tissues were partitioned into tubers, vines, and stolons plus readily recoverable roots. Dry matter
and N accumulation in each plant component were determined as described by Zebarth and Milburn (2003).
After vine desiccation with diquat, the four central rows of each plot were harvested in early to mid October
to determine tuber yield following the standards described in previous studies (Xing et al., 2012). Tuber
specific gravity was determined using the Weight in air / Weight in water method (Zebarth et al., 2004). Soil
temperatures at 10-20 cm soil depth and the soil moisture over 30 cm depth were monitored with an hourly
average for each variable computed and recorded. Air temperature and precipitation data were obtained from
the Environment Canada climate station located approximately 700 m away from the experimental field.
Solution

Potato is one of the most essential food vegetation worldwide, and ranks 0.33 after rice and wheat in phrases of
human consumption. It is has been indicated, potato tubers are the subterranean swollen, starchy tubers of the
potato plant and are of utmost importance as staple food for hundreds of millions of people in the world. All of
the body's living tissue depends on nitrogen for its essential role plant. No other elements have the same impact
on marketing thriving plant growth Protein in abundance seems to increase the measuring the leaves
appropriately, to communicate a increase the production of carbohydrates. Based on academic research, potato
production is constrained by using various elements, including the insufficient use offertilizers with nitrogen are
unique. Farmers therefore produce potato crop fed by rain for meals. Yet, there isn't a comprehensive guidance on
N fertilizers Consequently, information on the pricing for premium nitrogen fertilizers. N fertilizer supply and
rate drastically interacted in all vegetative increase characteristics as expressed through plant length, leaf
number/plant, leaf area/plant, leaf chlorophyll content, and plant sparkling and dry weights. Nitrogen rate will
increase the complete tuber number, marketable total number, total tuber yield, marketable tuber yield and
average tuber weight with growing nitrogen. The growing in wide variety of marketable with increasing in
application nitrogen is associated with limit in the range of small measurement tubers due to increase in the
weight of individual tubers.
Review of Related Literature

Nitrogen is important in fuelling growth and providing high yields. It is largely needed during leaf
formation and then for tuber growth and yield, when it ensures optimal carbohydrate production in the
leaves. Nitrogen fed at an early stage of crop development will help build the overall size of the canopy.
At later stages of growth, nitrogen use helps maintain the greenness of the canopy and maximize yield.
In temperate climates, an excess supply of nitrogen at later stages of growth can cause exesive vine
growth, preventing the crop from reaching maturity. It may also reduce starch content, reducing
processing potato crop quality. An excess supply of nitrogen at later stages of growth may also reduce
dry matter content, affecting quality.

Potato has an indeterminate increase sample and produces a fibrous device of adventitious root system,
which develops just above the nodes on underground portion the stem (Eremev et al., 2007). The potato
tuber is an enlarged swollen underground stem with variable shapes and sizes. The swelling of the tuber
is due to the translocation and storage of photosynthesis (carbohydrates), which retains its most with
maturation of the aerial element of the plant. Hence, tuber boom and improvement of potato in general
depends on the presence of ample foliage that produces the fundamental assimilates.
 Nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for crop production in many of the world's agricultural areas and its
efficient use is important for the economic sustainability of cropping systems. Furthermore, the dynamic
nature of N and its propensity for loss from soil‐plant systems creates a unique and challenging environment
for its efficient management. Crop response to applied N and use efficiency are important criteria for
evaluating crop N requirements for maximum economic yield. Recovery of N in crop plants is usually less
than 50% worldwide. Low recovery of N in annual crop is associated with its loss by volatilization, leaching,
surface runoff, denitrification, and plant canopy. Low recovery of N is not only responsible for higher cost of
crop production, but also for environmental pollution.

The potato is a herbaceous crop that requires both the vegetative and reproductive phases in about equal
amounts, according to (Solomon, 2005) [10]. The general vegetative development, which greatly influences
reproductive growth, is related to yield. Three physiological mechanisms that result in the production of the
yield components are known to play a role in the development of potato yield.

Increasing plant density resulted in higher tuber yield, dry weight of tuber and total dry matter yield.
Increasing nitrogen fertilizer rate 100 up to 150 kg/ha increased mean tuber weight and total dry matter yield.
Since, 100 and 150 kg/ha nitrogen had no significant difference to each other producing the highest tuber
yield and number of tuber, so in order to prevent environmental pollutions and excessive costs, utilization of
100 kg/ha nitrogen is recommended and any reduction in the planting density lower than 75×30 cm will lower
both total yield and % marketable yield.
Experimental
Table 1 shows that fertilizer sources had no significant effect on tuber yield or quality parameters. The
NO3- N and NH4-N concentrations in the soil with organic fertilizer (Env) were significantly lower than
with conventional mineral fertilizer (Con) and the differences between CRF and Env were non-
significant. There were no significant differences among fertilizer sources in soil solution NO3-N
concentrations at 60 cm depth but soil solution NO3-N concentration at 30 cm depth with Con was
significantly greater than that with Env whereas that with CRF was intermediate. While the tuber yields
(both total and marketable tuber yields) were significantly increased for both N fertilizer application rates
over the unfertilized control, the differences between the two fertilizer application rates were not
significant. There was a trend of increased tuber sizes with greater N fertilizer application rates. The
proportion of small tubers decreased significantly with the increased N application. For other tuber
quality measures (percentages of hollow heart tubers, culls and scab tubers), no significant effects of N
fertilizer rate were observed. In contrast, for all measurements of N in soil and soil solution, significant
differences were found among all three levels of application rates with only one exception (surface layer
soil NH4-N with the application rate of 100 kg N ha-1 ). These results suggest that increasing the N
fertilizer application rate from 100 to 200 kg N ha-1 had limited positive effects on potato yield and
quality but could significantly increase the N concentrations of the soil and soil solution and therefore,
potentially pose threats to the environment.
Conclusion

Fertilizer application rates have varying effects on the soil solution NO3-N leaching potential, dependent upon the
fertilizer source and year. The high N application rate treatments resulted in greater soil solution NO3-N concentration by
at least 23% than their corresponding low rate treatments at 30 cm soil depths in 2004. However, in 2005, this type of
trend was only observed in Con source treatment while both CRF and Env types showed either reduced or equal soil
solution NO3-N concentrations for high fertilizer application rate than for low fertilizer application rate. This complexity
may be related to the interactions among fertilizer source, soil characteristic and weather conditions. In particular, the
release of N from CRF and Env is highly related to soil temperature and the soil water condition (Hopkins et al., 2008).
Apparently, when the treatment effect is relatively marginal, the variation resulted from different weather conditions
among the two test years may have canceled out the effects of the CRF and Env type treatments. The application of
fertilizer added beyond 100 kg N ha-1 may only increase the risk of the NO3 - leaching potential of the Con type
treatment. Considering a NO3 - leaching rate of 5-33 kg N ha-1 reported by Milburn et al. (1990) in the same potato field
treated with fertilizer rates of 120-150 kg N ha-1 , this study suggest that the optimal N fertilizer application rate is
probably between 100 and 150 kg N ha-1 assuming the soil has good N supply capability. In high value crop like
potatoes, the end result of excessive application of N is no yield gain, but a potential reduction in processing quality,
increased costs and potential damage to the environment in the form of leaching potential. This study suggests increasing
from 100 kg N ha-1 to a full rate of conventional fertilization application (200 kg N ha-1 ) did not significantly increase
tuber yield or improve tuber quality but had significant effects on N concentrations in soil and soil solutions sometimes,
increasing their potential for N leaching. Controlled-release and organic fertilizer formulation both resulted in lower soil
and soil solution N concentrations than conventional fertilizer, therefore are potentially better for environments. An N
application rate between 100 – 150 kg ha-1 was proposed for the site which already had high amount of soil N supply.
References
-Dean, D.M., Zebarth, B.J., Kowalenko, C.G., Paul, J.W., Chipperfield, K., 2000. Poultry manure effects on soil nitrogen
processes and nitrogen accumulation in red raspberry. Can. J. Plant Sci. Oct 80, 849-860.

-Hopkins, B.G., Rosen, C.J., Shiffler, A.K., Taysom, T.W., 2008. Enhanced efficiency fertilizers for improved nutrient
management: Potato (Solanum tuberosum). Crop Manag. doi:10.1094/CM-2008- 0317-01-RV

-Milburn, P., Richards, J.E., Gartley, C., Pollock, T., O'Neill, H., Bailey, H., 1990. Nitrate leaching from systematically tiled potato
fields in New Brunswick, Canada. J. Environ. Quality. July/Sept 19, 448- 454

-Rees, H.W., Chow, T.L., Zebarth, B.J., Xing, Z., Toner, P., Lavoie, J., Daigle, J.L., 2011. Effects of supplemental poultry manure
applications on soil erosion and runoff water quality from a loam soil under potato production in northwestern New
Brunswick. Can. J. Soil Sci. 91, 595-613

-Xing, Z., Toner, P., Chow, L., Rees, H., Li, S., Meng, F. 2012. Effects of hay mulch on soil properties and potato tuber yield
under irrigation and nonirrigation in New Brunswick, Canada. J. Irrig. Drain. Eng. 138(8), 703-714

-Zebarth, B.J., Milburn, P.H., 2003. Spatial and temporal distribution of soil inorganic nitrogen concentration in potato hills.
Can. J. Soil Sci. 83, 183-195
-Zebarth, B.J., Leclerc, Y., Moreau, G., 2004. Rate and timing of nitrogen fertilization of Russet Burbank potato: nitrogen
use efficiency. Can. J. Plant Sci. 84, 845-854

-Debasis Mahata, Mayukh Ghosh, Asok Saha, Ashis Kumar Singha Roy. Effect of Nitrogen Growth and Yield of Potato
(Solanum tuberosum L.). International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 2018;7.

-Fageria NK, Baligar VC. Enhancing nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants. Advances in Agronomy 2005;88:97-185.

-Fayera WN. Yield and yield components of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) as influenced by planting density and rate
of nitrogen application at Holeta, West Oromia Region Of Ethiopia. African Journal Of Agricultural
Research 2017;12:2242-2254. doi:10.5897/AJAR

-Gildemacher PR, Kaguongo W, Ortiz O, Tesfaye A, Woldegiorgis G, Wagoire WW, Kakuhenzire R, Kinyae PM. Improving
Potato Production in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia: A System Diagnosis. Potato Research 2009;52:173- 205.

-Van DA. Yield and growth of potato and wheat under organic N management. Agronomy Journal 2001;93:1370- 1385.
Love SL, Stark JC. Nitrogen Fertilizer Management for New Potato Varieties. Presented at the Idaho Potato Conference 2004.

-Finckh MR, Schulte Gelderman E, Bruns C. Challenges to organic potato farming: disease and nutrient management. Potato
Research 2006;49:27-42.
Thankyou
For
Listening