Response of potato cultivars to different mulches under rainfed conditions.

摘要

An experiment was conducted during 2002-03 and 2003-04 on black clayey soil at the Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. In this study two potato cultivars (Kufri Jyoti and Kufri Pukhraj) were grown with three mulching treatments and replicated thrice to observe variation in growth, water use efficiency and tuber production between mulched and un-mulched plots in the both the cultivars. Two years of pooled data revealed tuber yields of 20.0 and 19.1 t/ha in paddy straw and polythene mulched crop, respectively as against 18.6 t/ha in un-mulched crop. Significantly higher plant height, number of stems, leaf area and total dry matter per plant were recorded in paddy straw mulched plots followed by polythene, mulched plots compared to the un-mulched plots, which might be due to conservation of soil moisture and reduction of soil Temperature by 4-6 degrees C. Application of straw mulch also increased the available phosphorus and potassium in the soil. The interaction of cultivars and mulching treatment recorded non-significant differences. However, numerically higher tuber yield was recorded in Kufri Jyoti over Kufri Pukhraj. Therefore, mulching with paddy straw is recommended for growing potato crop in the rainfed conditions of Northern Karnataka when limited water was available for cultivation.