Accumulation of macronutrients and productivity of potato with foliar application of biofertilizer

Abstract

The addition of organic compounds to fertilizers has shown positive effects on plant metabolism. This study aimed to evaluate the macronutrient accumulation and productivity of potato with the use of biofertilizer (BF) applied to the leaves. A 2×7 factorial plot with a plot subdivided in time and ten replications used two forms of fertilization: a chemical fertilizer with conventional NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium: control) and conventional fertilizer plus biofertilizers (BF); evaluations were performed 31, 41, 51, 61, 71, 81 and 91 days after planting (DAP) using the Jelly cultivar. The BF increased the maximum N, K, Ca and Mg accumulations in the leaves, especially N and K, with the period of greatest accumulation occurring between 62 and 66 DAP. The accumulations of N, P, K, Ca and Mg in the tubers accelerated from 71 DAP. At the end of the cycle (e.g., 91 DAP), the increases in the nutrient accumulations of N, P, K and Ca were between 30 and 64% higher for the BF application, the Mg accumulations doubled and the S accumulations exhibited no differences between the evaluation periods. For the leaves, the following decreasing sequence of maximum accumulation was observed: K>N>Ca>Mg>S>P. For the tubers, the following decreasing sequence was obtained: K>N>P>Ca>Mg>S. The use of biofertilizers caused higher productivity of tubers of greater caliber and soluble solids contents in the cv. Jelly potato tubers.