Potato Planting Care & Harvesting
Potato is the most popular crop in India. Be it people of any class Potato must be included in their favourite food. Potato is the main crop of India as well as in world. And after rice and wheat in India only Potato is produced the most. In many parts of India Potato is cultivated throughout the year.
Potato is cultivated all over the country except Tamil Nadu and Kerala. For good yield of Potato, it is very important to select disease free seeds of good varieties. Apart from this the use of fertilizers availability of irrigation and disease control measures also affect Potato yield.
If you want to cultivate Potatoes then what will be their benefit and what should be taken care of by the farmers or you for good yield? We will see in this article.
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In India Potato cultivation is done equally in almost all the states. By whose farming farmers can get cash income and can get more yield per unit area in less time. The main things that the farmer should pay attention to in the cultivation of Potatoes are:
- Selection of improved seed of promising species
- Use of fertilizers in balanced quantity at the right time.
- Advanced technology of farming and its use at the right time.
- Appropriate measures to prevent from insect diseases
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What is called the best seed of Potato?
By good seed of Potato it is meant that the seed of Potato in which there is no mixture of any other variety of Potato and the Potato is not mutilated and diseased.
Which varieties should be selected for proper yield and income of Potato?
In order to get more yield from Potato farming, progressive varieties of Potatoes should be selected according to their use and area, such as if early cultivation is to be done and Potatoes are to be dug and sent to the market early, then varieties of short duration such as Kufri Bahar, Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Giriraj etc. should be selected.
In mid-season and late varieties, Kufri Lalima, Kufri Kanchan with red peel and Kufri Badshah, Kufri Girdhari, Kufri Himalini, Kufri Jawahar etc. should be selected among the varieties with white peel. To make chips or other processed products, it would be good to choose Kufri Chipsona- 1. Kufri Chipsona 2. Kufri Chipsona-3 and Kufri Himsona.
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When and in what quantity should fertilizers be used in Potato crop?
Manure and fertilizers should be managed in balanced quantity on the basis of soil test. Ph. Value between 5.0 to 8.0 Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potash in the form of element in normal soil 120 : 60 : 60 kg./ha. It is better to do it at the rate of two-thirds i.e. 90 kg of nitrogen and full phosphorus and potash should be used in the field at the time of last ploughing and mixed in the soil, remaining nitrogen should be used at the time of soil application. Since Potato is a tuber crop. And falls under the soil, so the use of compost manure in the soil is 8-10 tons / ha.
It is very necessary to do it late so that the soil remains friable and along with the main elements secondary essential elements (calcium, magnesium and sulphur) and micro elements (zinc, iron elements, manganese, copper, chlorine, molybdenum etc.) are also supplied). If necessary, spraying should be done by making a solution of water soluble nitrogen, phosphorus potash
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In case of non-availability of compost manure, for green manure before planting Potatoes, flax, mould should be turned after 45 days of sowing or the residue left from the cultivation of pulse crops like cowpea, moong, urad etc. should be turned in the soil. Keeping sheep in the fields also helps in increasing the yield.
Field preparation, quantity of seed and method of sowing for Potato cultivation:
For Potato cultivation, the field should be ploughed 2-3 times and levelled so that the soil becomes friable. Potato tubers of 25-30 grams are suitable for sowing. Planting small and uncut Potatoes protects from disease, but if small size Potatoes are not available for seed sowing, then cut large size Potatoes into 25-30 pieces in such a way that each piece must have 2-3 eyes.
After cutting, treat the cut Potatoes by dissolving them in a fungicide such as Trichoderma (10 grams/liter of water) or Carbendazim (2 grams/liter of water) and spread them in the shade so that the moisture dries up and a protective layer is formed on the cut ends. It helps in protecting from rotting.
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20-25 kg of Potato tubers are required for sowing in one hectare area, which is about 40 percent of the total production cost. For sowing row to row distance of 50-60 cm and plant to plant distance should be kept.
If the soil is not sandy loam, sowing should be done on furrows as far as possible so that there is no difficulty in the development of Potato tubers. If the ridge is not already made, it should be covered with soil after planting Potato tubers.
Weed control in Potato cultivation:
In Potato cultivation when the crop is 25-30 days old, weed management becomes very necessary, otherwise the weeds absorb the nutrients of the plants. To minimize the use of chemicals in the soil, weeding should be done by hand with the help of a spade.
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For weed control at commercial level, pre-planting pendimethalin (at the rate of 3 ml / liter of water) and if it is to be done after planting, then metribuzin 250 g / ha. Or Oxyflurophen @ 50 gm/ha should be mixed in 80-100 liters of water (up to 3-4 days after planting). Irrigation should be done at an interval of 8-10 days up to half the height of the bund as per requirement.
Major pests and their control in Potato crop:
As far as pests are concerned in Potato crop cutworms, aphids, white flies and caterpillars cause damage in it. Application of Phorate 10 g (8-10 kg/ha) is good before sowing to protect from Mahu insect and white fly (insect that spreads viral disease). Spraying of imidacloprid drug (1.0 ml quantity / 3.0 liters of water) should be done to prevent white fly. Summer ploughing, not using raw cow dung or manure etc. are important in protection from caterpillars and other pests.
There is a lot of outbreak of blight disease in Potato. What measures should be taken for this so that scorching disease does not occur at all?
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Blight disease is very devastating in Potato crop. Due to its effect, brown dry spots appear on the edge of the leaves or on the middle vein of the leaves, which soon reach the stems and tubers of Potatoes. To prevent this, drench the leaves of Potato crop by preparing a solution of Mancozeb + Metalexil @ 25 grams/liter of water without waiting for the disease to appear.
The first spraying should be done after 25-30 days of planting, after that 3-4 spraying should be done at an interval of 10-15 days. For the control of early blight, it is better to use Macozeb 2.5 gm/liter of water by making a solution.
What are the things to be kept in mind while digging Potatoes so that the Potatoes do not spoil after digging?
Potato digging depends on the purpose for which digging is done. If the early crop is done for cash income, then digging should be done as soon as the crop is ready, but if it is being done for seed or storage, then 15-20 days before digging the stems should be cut with a sickle or weedicide like gramaxon.
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It should be done with help so that the peels become hard and mature and the storage capacity increases. Irrigation must be stopped one week before digging so that there is less moisture in the Potato tubers and the soil does not stick.
What are the things to be kept in mind while storing Potatoes after digging?
Things to be kept in mind before storing Potatoes the following things should be kept in mind before storing Potatoes.
- After digging, keep the Potatoes in a shady open place or room where there is good air circulation by making a pile of one to one and a half meter high for 15-20 days so that the skin becomes hard.
- Sort and separate the mutilated diseased mismatched Potatoes.
- Grading of small, big and medium sized Potatoes. 4. Treatment of Potato tubers before storage Dip the tubers for 30 minutes by making a solution of boric acid 30 grams/liter of water, then dry the moisture in the shade and then store.
- Storage should be kept at 2-4°C to avoid sprouting in storage. Should be done at temperature and 90-95 percent humidity. Potatoes used for food should be stored at 8-12°C. By doing it at temperature, the amount of sugar in it decreases. By using the methods mentioned in this way, you can get more profit from Potato cultivation.
