Responsiveness of different potato (Solanum tuberosum) varieties to phosphorus fertilizer

A better understanding of mineral application and use by crops is fundamental for enhancing crop yields with a minimum impact on environment and for reducing costs. However, efficiency of phosphorus utilization is dependent on genetic variability within the crop. Hence, the objective of this study is to assess responsiveness of different potato varieties to mineral phosphorus application. A field trial was conducted at El Annaceur (experimental station of the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA, Morocco)). Seven potato varieties (V) (Desiree, Nicola, Barna, Pamela, Daifla, Labella and Marguarita) were combined with two phosphorus (P) treatments (P0 : without any P application as fertilizer and P+ : 100 kg P2O5/ha as super triple phosphate (45%)). The experimental design was a split plot with three replications, P on main plots and varieties on subplots. Results showed a significant separate effect of V and P on tuber yield while no interaction effect (P*V) was recorded. Variety Pamela gave the highest main tuber yield (34 t/ha) and the variety Labella was the lowest one (19 t/ha). The variety Desiree was considered as check giving 24 t/ha. The variety Desiree showed the most significant response to P application with an average of 71 % increase compared to control. The variety Barna comes in second position with 49 % of response to P application while varieties Labela, Pamela and Daifla showed lower improvements (approximately 10 %) comparatively to control. Within the framework of this experiment, the variety Pamella gave the highest yield in both situations of phosphorus application. While variety Desiree required an additional application of P to express its potential yield. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).