Problems of Obtaining Planned Potato Harvests in the Southern Urals

Аннотация

Analysis of the results of four multifactorial experiments revealed the reasons limiting the possibility of obtaining a planned potato crop of 40 t/ha in the conditions of the Southern Urals. The effectiveness of mineral fertilizers in the norms established by the calculation and balance method is noticeably reduced in arid years, which are observed here every 4 years. The uneven moistening of the vegetation period and the high severity of infectious diseases, especially rhizoctonia, necessitates the dressing of seed tubers (Maxim, TMTD, Prestige) and the combined use of Mival-agro, which increases plant resistance to stress. To achieve the planned yield (40 t/ha), one should use a plastic Nevsky variety and adaptive varieties of local breeding: Spiridon, Tarasov, and Kuzovok. For the effective assimilation of photosynthetic active radiation, thickened schemes (75 × 24 and 75 × 19 cm) of potato planting should be used in the second decade of May. Planting in the third decade of May allows one to obtain the planned level of yield, but the dry matter content in the tubers of the Rozara variety decreases by an average of 1.5% and that of the Kuzovok variety by 2.5%; the starch content by 1.5 and 1.4%, and the accumulation of nitrates increases by 1.2 and 1.6 times, respectively. The late (June 5–12) planting of potatoes to a depth of 10–12 cm ensures the formation of a planned crop of 40 t/ha in the Kuzovok variety; however, the dry matter content in tubers is reduced by an average of 4.0%, starch content by 2.5%, and the content of nitrates increases by 2.0 times compared with the planting on May 12–15.