What are the potato cultivation techniques and methods?

I. Seize the early start and make preparations well in advance. First, crop rotation selection: the previous crop is best as corn or wheat, followed by soybean and sorghum, with sugar beet as the worst. Second, plot selection: choose soil that is soft in texture, high in organic matter, deep in soil layer, resistant to both drought and waterlogging, good in fertilizer and water retention, and suitable for good tuber growth. Third, prepare the land well, mainly by deep plowing about 25 cm, achieving a level and finely harrowed seedbed, firm on top and loose below, which is conducive to tuber formation, good tuber shape, and increased yield. Fourth, apply fertilizer rationally, with base fertilizer mainly organic fertilizer, but it must be thoroughly decomposed and fermented, and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium must be combined. Fifth, select good seed potatoes: choose tubers that are uniform in size, relatively neat, plump and strong, high in purity, free of diseases and pests, with smooth and delicate skin, fresh skin color, and strong vitality. Do not choose old tubers that are deformed, pointed, large-bellied, cracked, rough, aged, or with protruding eyes. After the seed potatoes are selected, place them indoors at about 17°C to sprout and wait for planting.

II. Seize the early start and sow at the right time. Sowing can begin when the temperature steadily passes 6°C. For early sowing, small whole seed potatoes can be used; for appropriately later sowing, cut seed pieces can be planted, but the seed pieces must not be smaller than 30 g. The cultivation method is ridge cultivation, which can be broadly divided into flat sowing, sowing on the ridge, and sowing under the ridge; the commonly used methods are sowing on the ridge and sowing under the ridge.

III. Seize the early start and strengthen management. First, carry out three hoeings and three ridgings, and do a good job of intertillage and weeding. Immediately after emergence, carry out the first hoeing and ridging to release cold and increase temperature, activate the soil, eliminate weeds, and promote early and rapid seedling growth. Achieve three hoeings and three ridgings, with fine hoeing and fine ridging, deep hoeing and deep ridging. After the ridges close, also pull one round of large weeds, which helps ventilation and light penetration. Second, water scientifically. From emergence to before 7-8 true leaves, the water requirement is low, so water less or not at all, to help increase soil temperature, promote good rooting, and rapid stolon elongation. In drought, water once, and after watering promptly cultivate and cover the soil with earth. Before budding, appropriately control watering; at budding, if drought occurs, water heavily once; after seedling hardening, keep the soil moist. Third, topdress rationally. Topdressing is mainly nitrogen fertilizer, applied at about 3 kg per mu. The topdressing method is, after emergence and after the first hoeing, open furrows on both sides of the ridge, manually filter the fertilizer into the furrows, then carry out intertillage and cover with soil. A certain proportion of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should also be applied as topdressing. In the late growth period, the root absorption capacity decreases and cannot meet the needs of plant growth, so foliar topdressing should be carried out. The method is to spray 0.5% urea and 0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate about 15 days before harvest, with obvious synergistic effect. Fourth, remove flower buds. When potatoes bud, they should be removed in time to ensure that soil nutrients and water are concentrated to meet the needs of tuber growth. Fifth, chemical control treatment. In plots where potatoes grow luxuriantly, in order to prevent excessive vegetative growth of the aboveground part, choose a suitable and appropriate chemical control agent and spray it to reduce plant height, promote strong seedlings, and increase yield.

IV. Seize the early start and harvest at the right time. Generally, harvest can be done when the plants reach physiological maturity, that is, when leaf color gradually turns from green to yellow and then withered. However, it is not necessarily required to wait until physiological maturity to harvest. Harvest at the right time according to cultivation purpose, economic benefit, or the need for tubers.

V. Seize the early start and base efforts on disaster resistance. Achieve autumn frost prevention in spring. Farmers say they would rather endure ten freezes than suffer one frost. Also do a good job in drought resistance and waterlogging drainage, disease and insect control, hail disaster prevention, and so on, basing efforts on fighting disasters to secure a bumper harvest.