Studies in potato agronomy. I. The effects of variety, seed size and spacing on growth, development and yield

Abstract

1. Growth and development in relation to yield were studied in the two maincrop varieties King Edward and Majestic in 1959 and 1960. The effects of seed size and spacing were also investigated.2. The total tuber yield, and more particularly the ware yield, of Majestic was greater in both years. This was associated with a longer period of tuber bulking in this variety, due, in 1959, to earlier tuber initiation, and in 1960, to earlier tuber initiation and greater persistence of tuber bulking. Large seed outyielded small seed, although the difference, particularly in ware yield, was relatively small. The seed size effect was associated with a difference in the length of the bulking period, in consequence of a difference in the time of tuber initiation. Total yield tended to increase with decrease in spacing distance; ware yield increased as spacing distance decreased from 24 to 18 in., but there was little difference between 12 and 18 in. spacing. In general, low seed rates performed better than might be expected.

Studies in potato agronomy. II. The effects of variety and time of planting on growth, development and yield

“…Details of soil type, previous cropping, fertilizer treatment, sampling and measurements were as described by Bremner & Taha (1966) for their 1960 experiment which was on an adjacent site in the same field. Seed corresponded in size to their ' large' seed, and since they were planted at 18 in.…”

“…The experiment included a range of varietal types from first earlies to maincrops, and, in addition, it was possible to compare, although not on a statistical basis, some of the data with those obtained in the same year from King Edward and Majestic (Bremner & Taha, 1966).…”

Modelling the effects of potato seed-tuber age on plant establishment

“…Table 2) are ln"-transformed, orlhogonalized and scaled (Eaton et al 1986 (Watson 1947). Indeed, Bremner and Radley (1966) and Bremner and Taha (1966) provided evidence that potato yield is directly related to leafarea duration.…”

The physiology of growth and tuber yield

“…At the same time, there is little effect of the plant population on the number of tubers produced by each stem. There is, therefore, a reduction in the amount of foliage capable of supplying assimilates to each tuber and the mean tuber size is decreased (Toosey, 1963;Bleasdale, 1965;Bremner and Taha, 1966;Moorby, 1967;Sharpe and Dent, 1968;Allen, 1972;Thompson and Taylor, 1974). The overall result of these effects is an asymptotic approach to a maximum yield per unit area.…”