Effects of date of planting, date of harvesting and seed rate on yield of seed potato crops

Abstract

SUMMARYFourteen experiments which studied effects of date of planting in July, date of harvesting and seed rate on seed tuber yields (10–51 mm) of several potato varieties were carried out in four seasons in East Anglia. Seed tuber yields of c. 30 t/ha in Estima, Wilja and Maris Piper and 20 t/ha in Record were produced from the early planting and in all varieties c. 20 t/ha were produced from planting in late July. For maximum seed yield in all varieties, seed rates of 1·5–2 t/ha were sufficient for most harvests from both dates of planting but for the earliest harvest of the late-July planting, seed rates of only 1–1·5 t/ha were required. The value of seed crops was assessed as the number of ware hectares that could be replanted from the seed yield of one hectare graded 10–51 mm. In all varieties, the number of seed-size tubers and replantable hectares increased with increasing seed rate over most of the range, but numbers were close to the maximum at the early harvests. With delay in harvesting, the number of seed tubers and replantable hectares decreased in many experiments, especially from low seed rates, as more tubers exceeded the upper seed size limit. Maximum numbers of replantable hectares of 15, 15, 20 and 25 were found in Record, Estima, Wilja and Maris Piper, respectively.The monetary value of seed crops of Record and Maris Piper was calculated using (i) a fixed price per tonne of seed and (ii) cost of seed per replantable ware hectare. Sale values from the latter were substantially higher than from the former at early harvests in Record and at all harvests in Maris Piper. In Record, differences in sale value between the two pricing methods decreased with delay in harvesting as yields increased while number of replantable hectares varied little. The results showed that high multiplication rates and monetary returns can be obtained from short-season seed potato crops which may follow crops harvested earlier in the same season. The implications for potato production in the UK are discussed.