Water Deficit Duration Affects Potato Plant Growth, Yield and Tuber Quality

Sheng Li (), Yulia Kupriyanovich, Cameron Wagg, Fangzhou Zheng and Sheldon Hann
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Sheng Li: Fredericton Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Yulia Kupriyanovich: Fredericton Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Cameron Wagg: Fredericton Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Fangzhou Zheng: Fredericton Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Sheldon Hann: Fredericton Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-16

Abstract: In humid climate regions, a short period of water deficit, especially during the vegetative growth and tuberization stages, has been found to affect potato plant growth, yield and tuber quality. However, there is still a lack of information on the impact of the water deficit duration. In this study, we examined potato plant growth, yield and tuber quality parameters with plants under 0 to 25 days of water deficit initiated at the beginnings of the vegetative growth stage and the tuberization stage, respectively. We found that for both the vegetative growth and tuberization stages, a longer water deficit duration resulted in no significant change in final plant height but significantly delayed flowering and reduced total biomass, yield, tuber dry matter content and share of large tubers. We estimate that per day of prolonged water deficit, there will be a yield loss of 3.1% and 3.4% for the vegetative growth and tuberization stages, respectively. Similarly, for per liter of irrigation water, there will be a yield increase of 16.3 g and 19.1 g for the vegetative growth and tuberization stages, respectively. Further studies are suggested to examine how supplemental irrigation can be used most effectively to mitigate the impact of water deficit on potato production in humid climate regions.

Keywords: drought; Russet Burbank; rain-fed agriculture; humid climate; supplemental irrigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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