Tuber quality of edible potato fertilized with catch crops and barley straw

Abstract

The work presents research results from the years 2000–2003. The research aimed to examine the possibilities of replacing farmyard manure, in edible potato cultivation, with catch crops and barley straw without reducing the level and quality of the tuber yield. Two factors were examined. I. Catch crop fertilization: a control object, farmyard manure, undersown catch crop (red clover, red clover + Italian ryegrass), stubble catch crop – biomass incorporated in autumn (fodder radish), stubble catch crop overwintering biomass mulch (fodder radish). II. Straw fertilization: straw-fertilized sub-block, a not-straw-fertilized sub-block, a not-straw-fertilized subblock. Undersown catch crops were sown after planting barley cultivated for grain whereas stubble catch crops were planted after barley harvest. Edible potato was cultivated in the first year after organic fertilizer application. The following characteristics were determined during potato harvest: commercial yield, starch, vitamin C, true protein and glycoalkaloid contents in the tuber samples. The conditions of the growing season significantly modified the commercial yield and the chemical composition of potato tubers. The highest commercial yield of potato tubers with the highest of starch, vitamin C, true protein, and the lowest of glycoalkaloid content was harvested from the treatment fertilized with either a mixture of red clover and Italian ryegrass, or red clover in combination with straw. Moreover, positive results were obtained when a fodder radish mulch + straw combination was applied.