Abstract
The paper presents the results of a three-year exact plot experiment (2008-2010) established in Bałcyny (NE Poland). Three potato cultivars were grown: medium-early &lsquo;Adam&rsquo;, medium-late &lsquo;Pasja Pomorska&rsquo;, and late &lsquo;Ślęza&rsquo;. The experimental factors were foliar fertilizers applied alone or in combination (Basfoliar 12-4-6, ADOB Mn, Solubor DF) and two levels of soil mineral fertilization (N<sub>1</sub>P<sub>1</sub>K<sub>1</sub>-80 kg N × ha<sup>-1</sup>, 80 kg P × ha<sup>-1</sup>, 120 K × ha<sup>-1</sup>; N<sub>2</sub>P<sub>2</sub>K<sub>2</sub>-120 kg N × ha<sup>-1</sup>, 144 kg P × ha<sup>-1</sup>, 156 K × ha<sup>-1</sup>). The experimental materials comprised potato tubers. The symptoms of soft rot (<em>Pectobacterium carotovorum </em>subsp. <em>carotovorum</em>), late blight (<em>Phytophthora infestans</em>) and dry rot (<em>Fusarium </em>spp.) were evaluated in 5 kg potato samples, and were expressed as the percentage mass of infected tubers. The rates of common scab (<em>Streptomyces scabies</em>) and black scurf (<em>Rhizoctonia solani</em>) infection were estimated on 100 tubers collected randomly after harvest, according to a nine-point scale, and were presented as a percentage infection index. In the laboratory, fungi were isolated on PDA medium from potato tubers immediately after harvest and after five-month storage. The incidence of tuber diseases depended on potato cultivars affected. The severity of tuber diseases varied between treatments with two levels of NPK fertilization and foliar fertilization. The lowest number of <em>Fusarium-</em>infected tubers was obtained from treatments where three foliar fertilizers were applied in combination, which was confirmed by the lowest abundance of fungal isolates. More fungi were isolated from potato tubers after harvest than after storage, but pathogens were more frequently isolated from stored tubers. After harvest, the lowest number of pathogenic fungi was isolated from the tubers of cv. &lsquo;Adam&rsquo; in the non-fertilized treatment, and after storage – from the tubers of the late cultivars in the treatment with three foliar fertilizers applied in combination.
Highlights
Under conditions of macro- and micronutrient deficiencies in the soil or nutrient uptake problems, multi-component fertilizers applied to potato leaves can almost instantly cure nutritional deficiencies (Boligłowa, 2003)
The severity of tuber diseases varied between treatments with foliar fertilization and two levels of mineral fertilization
The intensity of soft rot was low in the growing season of 2010, and the percentage of infected tubers was significantly higher in cv
Summary
Under conditions of macro- and micronutrient deficiencies in the soil or nutrient uptake problems, multi-component fertilizers applied to potato leaves can almost instantly cure nutritional deficiencies (Boligłowa , 2003). Foliar micronutrient fertilization affects the yield (B r a r and Nawdeep - K a u r , 2003) and quality (Kozera et al 2006) of potato tubers. Foliar fertilizers determine potato resistance to pathogenic infections (Mills et al 2006; Mahmoud , 2007), and influence the species composition of fungal communities colonizing potato tubers (Kurzawińska , 1997; Cwalina - Ambroziak , 2002). According to the latter authors, Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum coccodes, Rhizoctonia solani and species of the genus Fusarium are the main causal agents of tuber diseases. The structure of fungal communities colonizing tubers directly after harvest and after five-month storage was determined
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