Content and uptake of phosphorus and calcium with the yield of potato tubers depending on cultivation operations

Abstract

In 2002-2004, a study was carried out, based on a field experiment set up on soil of very good rye complex. The experiment was designed as randomized sub-blocks with three replications. Two methods of soil tillage, conventional and simplified tillage, and seven weeding methods such as application of the following herbicides 1) control object – without herbicides, 2) Plateen 41,5 WG , 3) Plateen 41,5 WG + Fusilade Forte 150 EC, 4) Plateen 41,5 WG + Fusilade Forte 150 EC + adjuvant Atpolan 80 EC, 5) Barox 460 SL, 6) Barox 460 SL + Fusilade Forte 150 EC, 7) Barox 460 SL + Fusilade Forte 150 EC + adjuvant Atpolan 80 EC), constituted experimental factors. Phosphorus content in the tubers of cultivar Wiking potato was determined by colorimetry and calcium was tested by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry method (AAS). Phosphorus and calcium content and their uptake with tubers yield significantly depended on the tillage methods and weed control methods as well as weather conditions in the study years. Potato tubers from the simplified tillage cultivation had more phosphorus than tubers whose cultivation was based on the conventional tillage, in contrast to calcium, which was more abundant in tubers from the conventional method. The herbicides significantly reduced the phosphorus content and increased the calcium content compared with the control object. Phosphorus and calcium uptake by potato was significantly higher in the conventionally tilled treatments compared with the simplified method, and in the herbicide-treated plots compared with the mechanically cultivated control treatment.