ROLE OF UREA, POTASSIUM AND BIOCHAR ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF POTATO

Abstract

The pot experiment was conducted at Agronomy Research Field, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University during the period from 3 ii rd November, 2020 to 28 February, 2021 to find out the effect of urea form, source of potassium and biochar on yield and quality of potato. The experiment consisted of three factors. The factors were: factor A: Form of nitrogen (2); i. N 1 : Prilled urea and ii. N 2 : Urea Super Granule (USG); factor B: Source of potassium (3), i. K 1 : KCl, ii. K 2 : KH 2 PO 4 th and iii. K 3 ; factor C: Source of biochar (3), i. B 1 : Maize cob biochar, ii. B 2 : Mahogany biochar and iii. B 3 : Cowdung + Sawdust biochar. The variety used in this experiment was BARI Alu-29 (Courage). The experiment was laid out in a RCBD factorial design with three (3) replications. Data on different growth, qualitative, yield contributing and yield parameter of potato were recorded and significant variation was recorded for different treatments. It was observed that the plants treated with N 2 (Urea Super Granule or USG) out-yielded over N 1 (Prilled urea) by producing the highest weight of tubers (313.40 g pot⁻¹). The treatment N 2 (Urea Super Granule or USG) also showed significantly the highest weight of marketable tubers (261.93 g pot⁻¹), lowest weight of non-marketable tubers (51.48 g pot⁻¹), highest starch content (16.80 mg g⁻¹ FW) and the lowest reducing sugar (0.28 mg g⁻¹ FW) in compare to prilled urea treated plants. Significant differences existed among different sources of potassium with respect to yield parameters in potato. The plants which were treated with K 1

(KCl) out-yielded over K 2 (KH 2 PO 4 ) by producing the highest weight of tubers (317.89 g pot⁻¹). The treatment K 1 (KCl) also showed significantly the highest weight of marketable tubers (256.44 g pot⁻¹), highest number of tubers plant⁻¹ (8.61) and the highest average weight of tuber plant⁻¹ (37.75 g) in compared to K 2 (KH 2 ) treated plants. The results revealed that B 1 (Maize cob biochar) exhibited its superiority to other biochar sources B 2 (Mahogany biochar) and B 3 (Cowdung + Sawdust biochar) in terms of tuber yield of potato. It was observed that the plants treated with B 1

(Maize cob biochar) out-yielded over B 2 (Mahogany biochar) and B 3 (Cowdung + Sawdust biochar) by producing the highest weight of tubers (311.61 g pot⁻¹). The treatment B 1 (Maize cob biochar) also showed significantly the tallest plant at 65 DAP (66.69 cm), the highest average weight of tuber plant⁻¹ (39.77 g), the highest weight of marketable tubers (250.44 g pot⁻¹) and the highest starch content (16.20 mg g⁻¹ FW) in comparison on mahogany biochar and cowdung + sawdust biochar treated plants. Interaction effects of urea form, source of potassium and biochar showed significant variation for most of the studied parameters. Among the interactions, N 2 K 1 B 1 was superior in producing the tallest plant at 65 DAP (72.17 cm), the highest weight of tuber (340.00 g pot⁻¹), highest weight of marketable tuber (290.67 g pot⁻¹), highest weight of non-marketable tuber (81.00 g pot⁻¹), highest yield of potato for flakes production (30–45 mm) (201.33 g pot⁻¹), highest yield of potato for chip production (45–75 mm) (121.00 g pot⁻¹), highest firmness (38.15%), total soluble solid (5.80 ˚brix), tuber dry matter (22.79%) and starch content (18.60 mg g⁻¹ FW).