Potato (Solanumtuberosum) is an essential vegetable crop around the world including in the United States. It belongs to the family Solanaceae.
They are a rich source of starch and contain good amounts of Vitamin-C and Potato is said to be a poor man’s friend.
How to Grow Potatoes
Before growing, one should select the right varities of potato to grow.
Some of the regular varitites of potatoes are
- Russet Burbank (most widely grown)
- Yukon Gold
- Red Norland
- Kennebec
- Chieftain
- Goldrush
Soil:
- Potato can be grown in a wide range of soils, ranging from sandy loam to silt loam, loam, and clay soil.
- Well-drained sandy loam soils and medium loam soils, rich in humus are most suitable for potato cultivation.
- Avoid alkaline soils for potato cultivation. As acidic conditions control the scab diseases prefer acidic (pH 4.8-5.8) soils potato cultivation.
Climate:
- Basically, potato is a cool-season vegetable crop.
- It does well in cool regions where there are sufficient moisture and fertile soil.
- The temperature for optimum tuber growth is 17 and 19°C.
- There will be an adverse effect on tuber growth if the soil temperature is high.
- At 30°C or above temperatures tuber growth will stop.
- Longer days during growth and shorter days during tuber development will increase yield potential.
Land preparation:
- Well pulverized soil is necessary for better tuber development of potato.
- Plow the field to a fine tilth for potato cultivation.
- Potatoes are grown under ridges rows to protect the developing tubers from sun greening.
- Ridges and furrows should be prepared with a spacing of 45 cm apart.
Seed rate:
- Using tuber pieces of 45-50 grams or 35-40 mm are said to ideal for potato cultivation.
- To break dormancy, tubers are treated with thiourea 1%.
- It requires around 3000 kg to 3500 kg tubers per ha if we use 45 grams tubers.
Spacing:
- Recommended spacing for the cultivation of potato is 60 cm × 20 cm.
- It can accommodate 23,000 plants per hectare.
Sowing:
- Mostly potato is grown as a cool-season crop.
- Sowing time- Autumn/ spring/ winter- In plains
- Summer / autumn- In hills
Intercultural operations:
Weed control:
Care should be taken to control weeds in potato; otherwise, they will compete with the main crop plants for available resources.
They may harbor various pests and diseases.
The first 60 days are said to be a critical period of weed competition.
Spraying of pre-emergence herbicides like alachlor, Simazine, Nitrofen, etc., within five days after planting.
Take up first hoeing after 45 days after sowing.
Dehaulming:
- Removal of the top portions of the crop to avoid the infestation of virus-carrying insects is called dehaulming.
- It can be performed by cutting the tops manually or by spraying herbicides like Paraquat.
- When the aphid population increases above the threshold level, chances of a viral infestation too will be high.
Earthing up:
- Covering the exposed tubers from the soil with soil is called earthing up.
- It can be done 40 days after sowing.
- It is mainly done to avoid the greening of developing tubers.
Irrigation:
- Keep soil always moist enough as Potato is highly responsive to excellent irrigation facilities.
- Avoid conditions like hardening and high moisture conditions.
- Provide proper drainage.
- Provide irrigation at 7-8 days intervals before germination and at 4-5 days interval during the tuber development stage.
Fertilizer application:
- Add 10-12 tonnes of farmyard manure before the last plowing.
- Add 40 kg urea, 150 kg SSP and 30 kg MOP before first plowing as a basal dose.
- Apply 40 kg urea after 30 days and add 20 kg urea, 30 kg MOP after 50 days after sowing.
- Nitrogen is the essential fertilizer for potato crop and maximum responsiveness for nitrogen was recorded in alluvial soils.
- There will be a phosphorous deficiency in acidic hill soils and it can lead to dull dark green color leaves without luster.
- Deficiency of K leads to shortening of internodes and high responsiveness to K is recorded in alluvial soils in potato.
Plant protection
Major Pests and diseases
- Tuber moth
Management:
- practice earthing up, collection and distribution of affected plants
- Spray carbaryl 3 g per liter.
- Leaf eating caterpillar
Management:
- Spray carbaryl at 3 grams per liter.
Nematodes:
Management:
- Practice crop rotation
- Apply carbofuran 3 G granules at 33 kg per hectare while sowing.
Diseases
- Late blight:
Management:
- Use resistant verities like .kufrijyothi, kufri malar.
- Sparymancozeb 2 grams per liter or chlorothalonil 2 grams per liter
Early blight:
Management:
- Spray mancozeb 2 grams per liter or chlorothalonil 2 grams per liter provides effective control against early blight.
Brown rot: It also causes wilting of plants so, it is also called bacterial wilt.
Management:
- Use healthy planting material.
- Avoid water stagnation in the field.
- Collection and destruction of affected plant parts.
Harvesting:
- Potato crop will be ready for harvesting within 90-100 days after sowing, depending upon the variety.
- It can be done 20-25 days after haulm cutting.
- Tops will dry and turns into yellow to brown color.
- While plowing, care should be taken to avoid damage to the tubers.
- Irrigation should be stopped 10 days before harvesting to facilitate easy harvesting. Store the tuber after they were cured properly under shade.
Yield:
- The yield potential of potato is 15-20 tonnes per hectare.
Uses of potatoes
- It can be used either fresh or in dehydrated forms as major food source.
- Potatoes are used in the preparation of chips and French fries.
- Protein powder extracted from potato is used weight loss.
- It can also be used in the preparation of fuel-grade ethanol.
- It is also a good source of starch, fiber, Vitamin-C, and riboflavin, etc.