Response of potato Solanum tuberosum L varieties to plastic mulching under drip irrigation in potato based cropping system

Abstract

A field experiment, entitled Response of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties to plastic mulching under drip irrigation in potato-based cropping system was conducted at the Research Farm of ICAR-CPRI-RS, Gwalior (M.P.) during Kharif, Rabi and summer season of 2018-19 and 2019-20.The experimental soil was silty-clay-loam in texture, with pH 6.84, EC 0.10 dS/m, Organic carbon 0.45% with available N (166.33 kg/ha), P (14.15 kg/ha) and K (380.56 kg/ha). The study involved eight treatment combinations and each treatment was replicated four times in split plot design. The treatments comprised of four mulching DM1: Drip irrigation with black-black plastic mulch, DM2: Drip irrigation with silver-black plastic mulch; DM3: Drip irrigation without mulch; FI4: Farmer s practice (Check) and two varieties viz. V1 Kufri badshah and V2: Kufri chipsona-3. The study revealed that plastic mulching under drip irrigation significantly enhanced growth, yield and water-use efficiency of potato compared to conventional practices. Among mulches, silver-black and black-black plastic mulches improved microclimate, resulting in higher canopy growth, crop growth rate, tuber number, and fresh tuber yield. Mulching did not significantly affect most quality parameters, though some variations were observed in sugar, phenol, and amino acid contents. Between the two cultivars, Kufri Chipsona-3 consistently outperformed Kufri Badshah in terms of yield, physiological traits, and water-use efficiency across all mulching treatments. The combination of silver-black plastic mulch with drip irrigation in Kufri Chipsona-3 produced the maximum total and marketable tuber yield, as well as the highest harvest index and water-use efficiency, and was at par with black-black mulch × Kufri Chipsona-3. Plastic mulching also influenced soil fertility by improving porosity, water-holding capacity, and NPK availability. Economic analysis revealed that drip irrigation with silver-black plastic mulch in Kufri Chipsona-3 fetched the highest gross and net returns