Studies on Influence of Nitrogen and Calcium Nutrition on Heat Tolerant Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) Variety Kufri Surya

Abstract

The potato (Solanum /uberosum L ). which often quoted as the 'future food' ts the 4"" most tmportant crop in the world Presently. india occupies third position tn production (25 mt) with average producltvlty of 17 9 I ha and holds 41" position tn terms of area (1 4 m ha) at world level. The state of U P and tis western part has remained parallel to naltonal trends tn progress The state ranks first tn area (33 %) and producbon (403 %) d potatoes wllile hold1ng 4'" postltOn .n productrv1ty (Pandey el a!, 2007). For poor and msuffictent storage, major part (17%) of the producers damaged So staggered planbng of the crop is taken up as an alternate strategy by cultivaltng stress tolerant cuHrvar like 'Kufn Surya'. However. the agro-technology for lhts pioneer ~tolerant hybrid is yet to be f111e tuned and among all factors. the N management fOf produclrvrty and Ca for mrttgahon of heat stress are of utmost SIQmficance The Investigation was conducted at CPRI Campus, Modlpuram, Meerut during 2005 and 2006. Soil of the field was sandy loam in texture with neutral reaclton. low .n organic carbon and N, wllile med1um 1n avatlable K and h1gh 1n available P, Ca and S. Sixteen treatments consisting of nitrogen vtz. 60, 120, 180 and 240 kg ha'1 and calcium viz. 0, 80, 160 and 240 kg ha'1 levels were tested In factorial randomized complete block design w1th three replications The crop was planted on October 5 during 2005 and October 6 during 2006 and ratsed wtth recommended producbon package for early potatoes except for the treatments. The crop performed better In 2006 compared to 2005 due to favourable weather and marketable tuber yield improved by 6 2- 22.8% at 60 days tn 2006 following stmilar trend at 75 days. Fresh and dry biomass accumulabon per plant enhanced wtth extended harvest and N level of 180 kg ha ' at 60 days, while. at 75 days. tncrease was upiD 240 kg N ha' Ca level of 80 kg Ca ha 1 also tended to tmprove biomass yreld marginally Cell membrane tnJury in leaf decltned drasltcally by 47.7% and 40.3% wtth 240 kg Ca ha 1 over control In both the years. At 60 days, 180 kg N ha·• reg1stered 14 4% more marketable yteld over foWler dose in 2005 and followed stmtlar pattern in second year, wh1le at 75 days. 240 kg N ha'1 produced htghest yields Calctum tmproved total and mar11etablo tuber yield slightly at 75 days with 80 kg Ca ha 1 Economic optimum doses of N for cv. Kufri Surya at 60 and 75 days for marketable tuber yield was 198.0 and 386.6 kg N ha·•. respectively Ca fertiliZation failed to have any significant effect though a lower dose of 80 kg Ca ha·• improved potato performance marginally; whereas no 1nteracbon between the nutrients was observed Soil fertility status was also not much affected by N and Ca appllcatton.