Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXIII, Issue 1
Written by Ivan PENOV, Ivan MANOLOV
An assessment has been made of the impact of fertilisation on potato yields. A four-year field fertiliser experiment was carried out in the region of Smolyan, Bulgaria during the period 2009-2012. Nine fertilisation variants were investigated: N, P, K, NP, NK, NPK, NPKMg with fertiliser rates of 120 kg N/ha, 60 kg P2O5/ha, 100 kg K2O/ha and 33 kg Mg/ha. It has been found that nitrogen fertilisation was an essential factor for yield formation. However, adding either phosphorus or potassium did not result in a statistically different yield compared to the one received only using nitrogen. Balanced fertilisation with the three primary nutrients (NPK) ensures the highest returns. The costs of adding both phosphorus and potassium fertilisers were small compared to the value of additional production. This makes the combination of the three fertilisers economically justified. Adding magnesium did not result in a statistically proven increase in yield, but magnesium may improve the quality of production and the resistance of plants to biotic and abiotic stress.
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