Potato - all articles

Yara's wide knowledge in potato crop nutrition can help you achieve excellent crop performance and maximize the yield and quality of all potato crops. Our fertilizer product portfolio - the most comprehensive in the market - provides you with many options for building a potato fertilizer program that best fits your needs.

The numbers of potato tubers produced by each potato plant is influenced by agronomy and varietal potential. The nutrients phosphate, potassium, and calcium all influence tuber number.

Potato tuber size and uniformity is critical for every market, whether it is fresh potatoes, seed or processing crops. Anything that prolongs a healthy leaf canopy will increase the average tuber size.

Skin finish is becoming more important as consumers increasingly demand potatoes with clean, attractive skins, particularly when buying pre-packed or loose potatoes. Tubers with surface infections such as black scurf silver scurf, powdery scab or common scab are less attractive and also likely to have a reduced storage life.

Potato bruising is a serious problem in the potato industry and is a major cause of consumer complaint and an economic drain on the industry.

Internal Rust Spot (IRS) also known as Internal Fleck, is a physiological internal defect in which small brown spots, due to cell death, appear in the tuber. Internal Brown Spot (IBS) is any spot contained inside the vascular ring in the medullary tissue.

Potatoes are one of the most important sources of starch worldwide. Variety choice is very important and potatoes with greater than 13% starch content are required in countries such as Germany. The higher the starch content, the lower the waste.

Dry matter content is important for both fresh markets and processing. Nitrogen, potassium and magnesium nutrition can influence tuber dry matter content.

Discolouration or internal blackening or browning of potato tubers is responsible for significant post-harvest losses.

Nitrogen applications can have the effect of encouraging foliar diseases, particularly applications later in the season which delay maturity and increase the risk of blight infection.

Balanced crop nutrition can help to improve potato storage and cooking quality.

Soft rots are a range of warm weather bacterial diseases, usually Erwinia spp, that enter the tubers through mechanical damage and rots the tubers in storage.

A balanced nutrition is essential to obtain the best results possible from potato crops. While macro and secondary nutrients are required in greater amounts, micronutrients also play critical roles in maximizing a potato crop's potential.

When growing potatoes the aim of the grower is to produce a high-yielding, quality crop that matches the needs of the intended market.

Nutrients play essential roles throughout the growth cycle of a crop.

Nitrogen is important in fueling growth and providing high yields. It ensures optimal photosynthate production in leaves.

Phosphorus is important for early root and shoot development, providing energy for plant processes such as ion uptake and transport.

Potassium plays a key role in water relations and good overall plant health. Potato plants absorb large quantities of potassium throughout the growing season.

Calcium is a key component of cell walls, helping to build a strong structure and ensuring cell stability.

Magnesium plays a central role in photosynthesis, as it is present in the center of each chlorophyll molecule. It is also involved in various key steps of sugar and protein production as well as the transport of sugars in the form of sucrose from the leaves to the tubers.

Sulphur plays a role in nitrogen stabilization and amino acid and protein production.

Boron stabilizes calcium in the cell wall and acts in synergy with calcium to improve plant resistance to disease, pest and environmental stresses.

Copper is a constituent of enzymes involved in carbohydrate and protein metabolism and it serves as a catalyst in photosynthesis and respiration.

Iron is essential for chlorophyll formation and enzyme activation in plants.

Manganese plays a role in chlorophyll synthesis and it is a critical component in the chlorophyll molecule itself. It is also responsible for activation of plant enzymes.

Zinc resembles manganese and magnesium in that it acts as a binding agent in enzymatic reactions. In this way it is important in protecting proteins from denaturing. Therefore, zinc has a major role to play in nitrogen metabolism and deficient crops will have lower levels of protein. Starch content is also affected by zinc.