Abstract

ZAMORA, Frank; TUA, Domingo  and  TORRES, Duilio. Evaluation of five organic sources on vegetative development of potato crops. Agronomía Trop. [online]. 2008, vol.58, n.3, pp.233-243. ISSN 0002-192X.

In order to determine the advantages of using organic fertilizers for potato production, reduce costs and the excessive use of chemical fertilizers that cause several chemical problems in soils, the effect of five organic fertilizers (fertipollo, cow manure, goat manure, coffee rind amendments and " La Pastora" biofertilizer) on potato, Solanum tuberosum L., crop yield was evaluated in a production unit of Federation municipium, Falcon State. A random blocks design with six treatments was used. Treatments were: goat manure (T1); cow manure (T2); fertipollo (T3); " Pastora" biofertilizer (T4); amendments of coffee rind (T5) and chemical fertilization (T6), replicated 4 times, for a total of 24 experimental units. The experiment was installed in a commercial lot of 10,000 m2 of surface, with a sowing density of 30,000 plants has-1. Each experi­mental unit had 5 furrows of 4 m length, with the 3 central rows taken as effective area, of which 5 plants were selected for evaluations. During the cycle of the crop, biometric parameters were evaluated such as: plant height, number of stems per plant, number of tubers per plant and tuber weight. A statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the probability value of 0.05 and the program INFOSTAT was performed. Results showed that for parameters plant height, tuber number, stem number and yield that treatments where fertipollo and goat manure were applied greater vegetative development and yield were obtained.

Keywords : Solanum tuberosum L; organic fertilization; tubers; growth; plants; yield.