The impact of some agronomic factors on the variability of potato tuber size distribution

Abstract

Using data from a wide range of experiments, the effects of some agronomic factors on the variability of the tuber size distribution were calculated. The factors studied were nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), seed-tuber planting density, physiological age, date of harvest, seed-tuber weight, irrigation, cultivar and site of production. There were significant effects of N, date of harvest, cultivar and site of production on the variability of the tuber size distribution measured as the coefficient of variation (CV) of tuber size. The CV increased with higher levels of aplied N and with later harvesting. The largest effect, but one that was unquantifiable, was that of site of production. These results demonstrate that the uniformity of tuber size distribution can vary and suggest that work to understand the reasons for this would be valuable.