2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Potato is an important spring crop with a value of $146 million in Florida (USDA 2017). A previous 3-year project completed at a private farm utilized sprinkler irrigation as a new technology for Florida potato reducing water usage by 50% compared with conventional seepage irrigation. However, the yield of the sprinkler irrigated potato was 10% lower than the seepage irrigated field and the tuber size was smaller, too. This project is an on-going collaborative effort between UF/IFAS specialists, extension agent, a local producer and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences. Since 2012, the group has hosted several grower demonstrations to present positive results to the Florida potato industry. Objective: To determine the effects of fertigation on tuber yield using sprinkler irrigation in potato. Methods: A trial was conducted at the same private farm located in Manatee County, FL during the 2017~2018 growing season. Two treatments with 4 replicates were assigned for this trial: fertigation and dry granular fertilization. The same amount of nitrogen (200 lbs/acre) was applied for these two treatments. For both treatments, 50 and 100 lbs/acre N were applied before planting and at emergence, respectively. For the fertigation treatment, 3 fertigation events were operated with 15 lbs/acre N liquid fertilizer applied at each event at tuber initiation. For the dry granular fertilization treatment, 50 lbs/acre N was applied in the form of dry granular fertilizer at tuber initiation. Results: The fertigation treatment had 5% greater total yield than the dry granular fertilization and 4% greater marketable yield. Conclusion: The result indicates that fertigation is a more efficient way to apply fertilizer under sprinkler irrigation than traditional dry granular fertilization. This provides a novel technology for producers to utilize sprinkler irrigation saving water, while simultaneously increasing yield and therefore, economic benefit.