Physiological Response of Potato to Nitrogen Fertilizer

In the absence of adverse environmental conditions, which could limit crop growth, a potential production is reached as determined entirely by the amount of available light, prevailing temperature and crop physiological characteristics. Relationship between intercepted radiation and accumulated dry matter was similar for a number of crops as different as cereals and apples. Dry matter distribution is strongly related to crop development as different crop organs are formed during the subsequent development stages in a crop s life cycle. The rate of development increases more or less linearly with a rise in temperature above a base temperature until an optimum temperature. Thermal duration has been a useful concept in linking plant physiological performance to changes in temperature and is as appropriate to tropical crops as it is to temperate ones. It has been a recently used approach which is superimposed to assess yield and physiological responses of the potato crop under different levels and timing of N fertilizer application and the contribution in narrowing the existing gap between the actual and potential yields of the crop.

Autorentext

Mr. Mikias Yeshitila has obtained his M.Sc. degree in Plant Science (Horticulture) in 2006. Since then he has worked in different field of researches (breeding and agronomic) of horticultural crops. He has also spent about a decade as the National Enset Crop Research Project. Currently, he is engaged as a lecturer at Hawassa University of Ethiopia.