Balanced Fertilizer Management Strategy Enhances Potato Yield and Marketing Quality

Optimizing nutrient supply can promote plant growth, minimize production input, and enhance economic returns in crops. Here, we determined the effect of different fertilizer strategies on the tuber yield and economic outcomes in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Six fertilizer treatments were arranged in a randomized, complete block design at Dingxi Research Station (104 degrees 35'E, 35 degrees 36'N), Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, from 2008 to 2010. Balanced fertilizer strategy (i.e., N, P, and K nutrients were combined in an appropriate ratio) was compared with imbalanced treatments where N, P, or K nutrient was omitted in decrement in the fertilizer strategy. On average, the balanced strategy increased tuber yield by 25% in 2008, 35% in 2009, and 14% in 2010, compared with imbalanced treatments, and 74% in 2008, 81% in 2009, and 33% in 2010, compared with no-fertilizer control. Among the three nutrient elements, N component contributed an average of 18% of the increased tuber yield, P contributed 14%, and K contributed 13%. The combination of N, P, and K together in a package led to an additional 18% yield increase on the top of the yield contributed individually by each of the three nutrient components. The balanced strategies also led to 11% greater net return than the imbalanced treatments and 29% greater net return compared with the control. The combination of N, P, and K in an appropriate ratio can serve as an effective fertilizer strategy to achieve additional tuber yield, improve marketing quality, and enhance economic returns in potato production.