Effects of Nitrogen and Plant Spacing on Potato
An experiment was carried out at the Horticulture Farm, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during 1998-99 growing season to study the effect of nitrogen and plant spacing on the growth and yield of potato (var. Diamant). Different nitrogen levels viz. 0, 127.0, 190.5 and 254.0 kg N/ha significantly influenced plant height, foliage coverage, number of main stem per hill, days required for 80% maturity of the crop, fresh weight of haulm (g/hill), number of tubers per hill, weight of tubers per hill, total yield of tubers per hectare and yield of seed and non-seed tubers per hectare. Application of 254.0 kg N/ha gave the highest yield of tubers (24.33 t/ha) and seed tubers (19.14 t/ha).
INTRODUCTION
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important non-cereal food crops and regarded as a staple food in many countries of the world (Ahmad, 1977). It is one of the most important vegetable crops in Bangladesh contributing alone as much as 54% of the total annual vegetable production of this country (BBS, 1997). But the average yield of potato is 11.26 t/ha in Bangladesh which is quite low in comparison to that of the leading potato growing countries of the world such as the Netherlands (43.68 t/ha), USA (38.89 t/ha) and even much lower than the average yield of potato (16.13 t/ha) in the globe (FAO, 1997). Among the plant nutrients, nitrogen is so important in potato production that the value of the other inputs cannot be fully realized unless nitrogen is applied to the crop in an optimum amount (Grewal et al., 1992). Under Bangladesh conditions, use of both under and over dose of nitrogen has been reported (Hussain, 1998).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present study was conducted at the Horticultural Farm, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, during the period from November, 1998 to February, 1999. The selected plot was medium high land and silty loam in soil texture belonging to the Old Brahmaputra Flood Plain (UNDP, 1988). The
INTRODUCTION
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important non-cereal food crops and regarded as a staple food in many countries of the world (Ahmad, 1977). It is one of the most important vegetable crops in Bangladesh contributing alone as much as 54% of the total annual vegetable production of this country (BBS, 1997). But the average yield of potato is 11.26 t/ha in Bangladesh which is quite low in comparison to that of the leading potato growing countries of the world such as the Netherlands (43.68 t/ha), USA (38.89 t/ha) and even much lower than the average yield of potato (16.13 t/ha) in the globe (FAO, 1997). Among the plant nutrients, nitrogen is so important in potato production that the value of the other inputs cannot be fully realized unless nitrogen is applied to the crop in an optimum amount (Grewal et al., 1992). Under Bangladesh conditions, use of both under and over dose of nitrogen has been reported (Hussain, 1998).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present study was conducted at the Horticultural Farm, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, during the period from November, 1998 to February, 1999. The selected plot was medium high land and silty loam in soil texture belonging to the Old Brahmaputra Flood Plain (UNDP, 1988). The
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