Effect of Integrated Management of Nitrogen Fertilizer and Cattle Manure on the Leaf Chlorophyll, Yield, and Tuber Glycoalkaloids of Agria Potato

Abstract

Management of nutrients, especially nitrogen (N), is one of the most important factors in potato production. Cattle manure and mineral fertilizers are two sources of N that can affect the quality and quantity of potato yield. The effects of the use of cattle manure (5, 10, 15, and 20 ton ha⁻¹), N fertilizer (50, 100, and 150 kg ha⁻¹), and their interaction on tuber yield, chlorophyll content, and glycoalkaloid concentration were evaluated during field experiments in Iran in 2008 with a randomized complete block design with a factorial arrangement of three experimental replications. At the time of flowering, chlorophyll a, b, and total (chlorophyll) were recorded by spectrophotometry. Furthermore, at the end of the growth season, tuber yield was calculated and tuber glycoalkaloids were measured by the colorimetric method for the assessment of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of potato. Chlorophyll a, b, and total content increased linearly and very significantly in response to the application of manure and N fertilizer. The interaction between manure and N fertilizer was also significant; somehow the maximum content of total chlorophyll [1.448 mg g⁻¹ fresh weight (FW)] was obtained by using 150 kg N + 20 ton of manure per hectare. Cattle manure, N fertilizer, and their combination had a highly significant effect on tuber yield. Maximum tuber yield (36.8 ton ha⁻¹) was obtained by the utilization of 20 ton manure + 150 kg N per hectare. Total glycoalkaloid content was affected by the N application only. It showed a linear increase in the presence of increased concentration of N fertilizer.

Keywords:

• Mineral fertilizer
• organic fertilizer
• Solanum tuberosum
• tuber quality
• tuber quantity

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to M. R. Najm, Z. Banihashemi, and Islamic Azad University, Roudehen Branch, Tehran, Iran, for their financial support to the present project. The authors thank I. Panahi, F. Salimi Moghadam, and the faculty members of the Agriculture Islamic Azad University, Roudehen Branch, Tehran, Iran.