How to Increase Potato Yield? Master These Eight Key Measures
Potato (scientific name: Solanum tuberosum, English: potato), Solanaceae Solanum genus, annual herbaceous plant, also known as earth egg, foreign taro, potato, etc. Potato reproduces by tubers and can be used as medicine; it is neutral in nature and sweet in taste, and can treat stomach pain, mumps, carbuncles and other diseases. As a food, its storage period should not be too long; it must be stored at low temperature, dry and sealed. (Note: sprouts are slightly toxic.) There is evidence that the vitamin C content of potato is about 4 times that of apple.
The nutritional value of potato
Potato is rich in dietary fiber, which helps promote gastrointestinal peristalsis and clear the intestines.
In addition, potato tubers also contain carotene and ascorbic acid, which cereal grains do not have. From a nutritional point of view, it has more advantages than rice and flour, can supply the human body with a large amount of heat energy, and can be called a “perfect food”. A person can maintain life and health on potato and whole milk alone. This is because the nutritional composition of potato is very comprehensive and its nutritional structure is also relatively reasonable; only the amounts of protein, calcium and vitamin A are slightly low, and this is exactly supplemented by whole milk. Potato tubers are high in water and low in fat, and the calories per unit volume are quite low. The vitamin C they contain is about 4 times that of apple, the B vitamins are 4 times that of apple, and various minerals are several to dozens of times that of apple. Potato is a blood-pressure-lowering food. Too much or too little of a certain nutrient in the diet can cause disease. By the same reasoning, adjusting the diet can also “eat away” the corresponding diseases.
Potato has anti-aging effects. It is rich in vitamin B1, B2, B6 and pantothenic acid and other B vitamins as well as a large amount of high-quality cellulose, and also contains trace elements, amino acids, protein, fat and high-quality starch and other nutrients.
Potato is rich in dietary fiber, and data show that its content is as much as that of apple. Therefore, the gastrointestinal tract absorbs potato more slowly, and after eating potato it stays in the intestinal tract much longer than rice, so it gives a greater feeling of fullness, and at the same time can help carry away some grease and waste, with a certain effect of promoting bowel movements and detoxification.
Potato is a carbohydrate, but its content is only about 1/4 that of rice of the same weight. Research shows that the starch in potato is a resistant starch, which has the effect of shrinking fat cells. At the same time, potato contains almost no fat; the fat content of 100g potato is only 0.2g.
Potato is a very good high-potassium low-sodium food, very suitable for people with edema-type obesity, and because of its rich potassium content, which is almost the highest among vegetables, it also has the effect of slimming the legs.
The Eight Key Measures for Increasing Potato Yield
1. Sun the seed before sowing: Sunning potato seed before sowing can increase yield by about 10%. 15-20 days before sowing, spread the potato seed flat in a sunny, warm place in the yard and sun the seed by natural light. Generally the seed layer thickness is about 15 cm; during the day it is best kept at 12-18 C, and at night not lower than 0 C; turn it once every 3-4 days. 2. Cut large pieces: For the sunned seed potatoes, cut them into pieces 1-2 days before sowing. It is best to cut them into large pieces of 30-40 grams; large pieces can ensure sufficient nutrients for seedling development. 3. Remove small and weak sprouts: Keep only one main sprout, remove all the small and weak sprouts, and sow immediately. This can make the main sprout emerge 2-3 days earlier and increase yield by about 8%. 4. Use small whole tubers as seed: Using whole small tubers as seed can increase yield by more than 105 compared with cut pieces of the same size. The size of seed potatoes is best medium. 5. Soak seed in plant ash liquid: Take an appropriate amount of plant ash, add water to make it liquid, put the seed potatoes in to soak for 36 hours, take them out and dry them, then sow. 6. Soak seed in rice vinegar: 3-4 days before sowing, take 200 grams of high-quality rice vinegar and add it to 50 kg of water, put the seed potatoes in to soak for 3-4 hours; take them out, dry them and sow. This can make seedlings emerge 3-4 days earlier and increase yield by about 10%-15%. 7. Remove flower buds: When about 30% of the potato plants have buds and flowers, remove the flower buds, doing this once every 3-4 days for 2-3 times in a row, which can achieve an obvious yield-increasing effect. 8. Spray paclobutrazol: When the potato plants are budding, use 50 grams of 15% paclobutrazol per mu, add it to 50 kg of water and spray, which can prevent excessive vegetative growth of the plants, accelerate potato enlargement, and increase yield.
Reminder: Applying potassium to potato can increase yield
Potato is a potassium-loving crop, but at present the application of too much nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer in potato cultivation consumes a large amount of potassium in the soil, reducing the soil's potassium supply capacity and causing an imbalance in the fertilizer supply ratio, thereby limiting potato yield.
Under different soil conditions, potassium fertilizer varieties and fertilization periods have different effects on potato yield and quality. Experimental research results prove that when the soil available potassium content is lower than 100 mg/kg, the benefit of applying potassium is significant; topdressing potassium fertilizer in the early budding stage gives the highest potato yield increase, and the starch content and the rate of large and medium tubers will also increase. When planting potato, on the basis of applying a certain amount of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer, after hole application cover with soil and apply potassium fertilizer at 14-15 kg per mu; potassium sulfate has a better effect than potassium chloride.