How to Achieve High Yields in Potatoes? Key Cultivation Techniques Explained

The potato is one of the food crops with the widest planting area in China. Potato prices have recently been rising higher and higher, and the planting area is also growing wider and wider. Although many people grow potatoes, the final yields are still unsatisfactory and fail to reach the level they had imagined. So today, the editor brings you several conditions for achieving high potato yields. Let's take a look together.

1. Seed Selection

Seed selection is a prerequisite for ensuring high potato yields, but many farmers today are still stuck with the planting concepts and varieties from more than a decade ago, cultivating the same variety for over ten years. Although many people have already switched varieties during the growing period, the soil has not been renewed, causing the quality of the varieties to degrade severely. Potato varieties should be selected according to factors such as the growing environment, timing and weather. Market demand and season must also be considered. As long as you choose varieties based on these conditions, you can achieve a very good yield.

2. Raising Seedlings

If potato planting encounters fluctuating high and low temperatures, the tubers will easily rot, so when sprouting, conditions must ensure complete and uniform seedlings. Select disease-free medium-sized tubers with relatively uniform eyes for sprouting. After cutting, dry them, place them in a relatively shady spot, spread a layer of moist sand over them, and then cover with plastic film to keep them warm. Generally, within 1-2 weeks the eyes of the potato pieces will begin to sprout. Plant the ones that have already sprouted, and continue sprouting the ones that have not yet sprouted.

3. Temperature

Potatoes have a relatively high demand for light, but they are quite strict about light and temperature. During the seedling stage of potatoes, 20 degrees is the most suitable temperature. The temperature for potato tuber growth should be controlled at around 18-20 degrees. Above 20 degrees or below 18 degrees will have varying effects on the growth and development of potatoes. For example, based on the weather and farming conditions in the south, sowing begins around the Start of Autumn, and harvesting can begin in November. After harvesting, winter sowing begins, and harvesting can take place around the Start of Spring the following year. And so on by the same pattern. Spring planting can be harvested in May-June.

4. Cultivation

Potatoes grow faster in the later stages, so the soil for growing potatoes must be fertile, deep and relatively loose. The drainage system should be good. Divide the land into ridge after ridge of field beds, with the field beds 70-80cm wide and 30-40cm high. The main thing is still to choose different field beds according to the variety, and reasonably control the planting density. Generally, the distance between each hole is about 25cm, and the row spacing is 30cm. And because the growing period of potatoes is relatively shorter than that of other crops, its fertilizer requirement must be ensured.

The above are the several conditions for high potato yields that the editor has compiled. As long as the four aspects such as variety and seedlings are done well, achieving high yields is not difficult. As long as you are careful, observe the condition of the potatoes more, promptly deal with pests and diseases, and ensure the fertilizer amount the potatoes need, you can guarantee your own economic benefits.