Effect of Irrigation and Organic Manuring on Growth and Yield of Arran Banner Potato

Abstract

An experiment was conducted in 1974 at the farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli to study the effect of sprinkler irrigation at different levels of soil moisture tension and the application of different amounts of farmyard manure on the growth and yield of potato (cultivar Arran Banner). The experimental design was a split-plot with irrigation treatments as main plots and manuring as subplots. The irrigation treatments consisted of three levels. These were to deplete soil moisture in the root zone to predetermined values of 70% (dry), 50% (medium) and 30% (moist) of the available moisture before starting the next irrigation to bring the moisture content in the effective root depth to the field capacity. The organic manuring had three levels 0, 100 and 200 m3 per hectar. A compound fertilizer 12-24-12 was applied to all plots at the rate of 300 kg per hectar.
Results showed that yield of tubers was significantly increased at higher moisture levels. On the other hand, organic manuring did not give significant increase in yield of tubers. The greatest yield of tubers was obtained at highest levels of both irrigation and manure application. At lower levels of irrigation, organic manuring partially compensated the low yield encountered in the dry irrigation levels.
Fresh weight of the shoot system was significantly increased by higher levels of both irrigation and manuring. Length of stems was significantly increased by higher levels of irrigation and by manure application. Number of haulms per plant was not significantly affected by either irrigation or manuring levels. Apparently the better vegetative growth obtained by higher levels of irrigation and manure application was mainly due to the lateral branching of the main haulms but not due to the number of haulms There was an association between vigorous vegetative growth and high yield of tubers.