Potassium impact on nitrogen use efficiency in potato - a case study from the Central-East Europe

Abstract

During the last century, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) has become a worldwide elementary staple food. The key reason for this process is the high nutritional value of potato as a carbohydrate source, storability, and ease and divergent uses. Breeding programmes resulted in new cultivars with improved yield potential (Brown 2011). In spite of a significant biological progress during the recent decades, actual yields in many countries are unsatisfactory and fail to rise further. Between 2004 and 2013, the world average yield increased from 17.7 t/ha to 19.5 t/ha (FAOSTAT 2016). The estimated potential yields for Poland (PL) and the Czech Republic (CZ) are 39.7 t/ha, 47.7 t/ha (Supit et al. 2010), while the actual yields during 2003-2013 ranged from 15-24 t/ha and 23-30 t/ha for PL and CZ, respectively, and from 15-24 t/ha for Albania (AL) (FAOSTAT 2016).The key reason of much lower real yields is not rooted only in the course of weather, but also results from low efficiency of applied nitrogen (N) fertilizer. The current mineral nutrition management in the Central Europe crop production is N-oriented, almost neglecting other nutrients, like phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). As a result, harvested yields are highly year-to-year variable (Grzebisz et al. Potato yield is affected by an interaction between nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) supply. This hypothesis was verified in a series of field experiments conducted during 2010-2013 in Albania (AL), Czech Republic (CZ) and Poland (PL). The two-factorial experiment was founded on relative scales of K (0, 50, 100, and 150%), and N application rates (75% and 100%) of the recommended doses, which were country-specific. The average tuber yield was doubled for AL, increased by 50% for PL, and by 15% for the CZ in response to K and N interaction. These differences are caused by an increase in the apparent nitrogen efficiency (ANE), which rose significantly by the progressive Krates. Maximum average ANE of 90 kg tubers/kg N was recorded in AL; it was 2-fold lower in CZ. Top average apparent potassium efficiency (AKE) of 65 kg tubers/kg K was recorded in PL; it was 4-times lower in CZ. The relationships between AKE and ANE clearly demonstrate the tight interaction between the N and K, and its effects on potato yield. However, a sound K application management should be adjusted to the local edaphic and climatic conditions.

Nitrogen and potassium fertilization in no‐till hard red spring wheat production

“…Cereal crops, including wheat, require adequate K nutrition to balance higher N fertilizer rates applied to optimize yields (Kansas State Agronomy, 2019). Guo et al (2019) showed that K supply has a significant influence on the regulation of wheat plant growth, photosynthesis, and nutrient uptake, and identified a positive interaction between N and K. Other authors have reported that the consequences of N metabolism (Hu et al, 2016), N uptake and NUE (Grzebisz et al, 2017), and C-N balance (Hu, Coomer, Loka, Oosterhuis, & Zhou, 2017) are improved by K fertilizer application. Furthermore, results by Guo et al (2019) indicated a positive synergistic interaction between N and K on nutrient uptake and yield production in wheat.…”

Effects of reduced nitrogen application rate on drip‐irrigated cotton dry matter accumulation and yield under different phosphorus and potassium managements

“…The (Chen et al, 2016;Luo et al, 2018). Studies showed that co-applied N with P or K could enhance yield production in plant by positive interaction between N and P, N, and K (De Groot et al, 2003;Grzebisz et al, 2017;Xu & Li, 2014).…”

The Effect of Nitrogen Fertilization on Yield and Macronutrient Concentrations in Three Cultivars of Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.)

“…Therefore, the present results were compared with those reported for potatoes, due to similar agronomic practices in both crop species (wide-row sowing) and yield specificity (main yield with high sugar content, below the soil surface). In a study by Stolarski et al [48], JA cultivated as a perennial plant for energy purposes produced from 10 to 19 kg of the DMY (aerial biomass) per kg of applied N. Grzebisz et al [55] reported that an increase in potato tuber yield ranged from 40 to 97 kg per kg of applied N depending on soil and climatic conditions (Poland, the Czech Republic, Albania), N rates, and cultivar. The agronomic efficiency of N fertilization was lowest in the growing season characterized by considerable precipitation deficiency.…”

“…The agronomic efficiency of N fertilization was lowest in the growing season characterized by considerable precipitation deficiency. Grzebisz et al [55] and Awgchew et al [56] found that the agronomic efficiency of N fertilization decreases with increasing N rates applied to potatoes. In turn, N-use efficiency expressed by the DMY of celery roots at different rates of N fertilizer ranged from 10.23 to 27.41 kg kg −1 N [57].…”