Abstract
Potassium (K) is a primary macronutrient for overall plant growth, yield potential, product quality and stress resistance of crops. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) crops require a high amount of potassium to achieve the ideal yield and quality. Therefore, the determination of optimum K rate and efficient source for potato is necessary because K affects crop physiological processes, dry matter production, cooking, and processing requirements. Through modeling on the pooled data extracted from 62 studies, the highest tuber yields might be obtained at an exchangeable soil K level of 200 mg kg−1 approximately, dependent on soil pH, texture, and organic matter. Through modeling on the data of 48 studies, it also revealed that application of potassium sulfate (K2SO4) and potassium chloride (KCl) at rates of 200 kg ha−1 and potassium nitrate (KNO3) at a rate of 100 kg ha−1 might achieve the ideal yield, implying the importance of K sources in potato production. However, these values (either soil exchangeable K content, or fertilizer rates) might not be applicable in a specific growing environment for a specific potato variety. It seems that there is no discrimination among split, pre-plant or in-season application of K, although pre-plant fertilization might be a trustworthy strategy for economic tuber yield. Owing to the luxury consumption of K by potato crop, a combination of factors, including soil exchangeable K level, petiole K concentration, crop removal amount, soil conditions, management practices, climatic conditions, and potato variety, should be considered in order to make rational K fertilizer recommendations.
Highlights
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a versatile vegetable with an overall production of almost 368 million tons [1]
Even in soils with high initial soil exchangeable K (>360 mg kg−1 ), low tuber yields were observed under no K fertilization [31]
Tuber yield responses to K fertilizers may be negative in soils with high exchangeable
Summary
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a versatile vegetable with an overall production of almost 368 million tons [1]. More than 1 billion people world-wide consume potato; its prominence in agriculture follows cereals like rice, wheat, and maize [1]. Potato produces more edible energy in a shorter period than cereals, which makes it as one of the most essential non-grain foods in the world [2]. Potato is a nutritious food consisting of about 77% water, 16.3% starch, 0.9% sugar, 4.4% protein, 0.9% minerals, 0.59% fiber, 0.14% crude fat, and a considerable source of vitamins A, B and C, and such minerals as potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and iron (Fe) [5,6,7]
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