Effect of Foliar Application of Zinc on Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Abstract

The research entitled “Effect of foliar application of zinc on potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in Bhaktapur, Nepal” was conducted with the objective to increase the yield of potato through foliar application of zinc during mid-January to April 2018. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications and 7 treatments. The treatments employed were control (water spray), single spray with 60ppm Zn-EDTA, single spray with 120ppm Zn-EDTA, single spray with 180ppm Zn-EDTA, double spray with 60ppm Zn-EDTA, double spray with 120ppm Zn-EDTA and double spray with 180ppm Zn-EDTA at 45DAP and 65DAP. The growth parameters including plant height, stem diameter and plant canopy were recorded at 45 DAE and 60DAE whereas yield parameters including number of tubers per plant, individual tuber weight and tuber yield were measured at harvest. Results revealed that the growth and yield contributing characters of potato were significantly affected by foliar application of zinc. It was observed that all the concentrations of zinc increased the plant height compared to control. Minimum plant height of 27.53cm was recorded with control and maximum height of 43.20cm was recorded with two foliar spray with 180ppm Zn-EDTA solution. The results obtained with 180ppm was found significantly superior to its lower doses and control for increasing stem diameter and plant canopy too. The highest stem diameter (9.66mm) and the maximum plant canopy (48.67cm) was recorded with double pray of 180ppm Zn-EDTA whereas the lowest stem diameter (7mm) and the lowest canopy (31.90cm) was recorded with control. Tuber yield was also found as the highest (23.29 mt/ha) with two foliar spray of 180ppm Zn-EDTA solution. The tuber yield of potato was found quite strongly correlated with individual tuber weight (R2 = 0.6876). The results suggested that foliar applications of Zn-EDTA@180ppm at 45DAP and 65DAP is suitable in potato production with respect to better growth and yield in Sudal, Bhaktapur