Potato is a major cash crop of our country. It is used in every home kitchen in some form or the other. Potatoes are rich in starch, protein, vitamin C and minerals. Farmers’ income can be increased by sowing high yielding varieties of potatoes on time, using balanced amount of fertilizers, proper pesticides and proper water management to produce more potatoes. In such a situation, let’s know all the information related to potato cultivation.
Fertilizer use in potato cultivation
Farmers can use fertilizers and manure mixtures to get bumper yields in potato cultivation. It contains 20 kg DAP, 14 kg muriate of potash, 21 kg urea, 2 kg zinc sulphate, 4 kg ferrous sulphate, 01 to 1.5 kg borax, 1 kg phorate 10 gm, 2 kg sulfur and maximum 20 kg sulfur per bigha. Dung manure can be used. It should be remembered that after sowing, urea should be divided into three parts and sprayed after 20 days, 40 days and 55 days respectively.
Potato late blight disease and prevention
Smallpox is a common disease of potato. To control this disease, do not leave any kind of rotting residue like grass, straw or dung etc. on the land. Intermediate treatment is also needed to prevent disease. Potato seeds should be treated with three percent boric acid for disease prevention. Replace seeds if they are bad. Plant seeds that are not affected by smallpox. Treat the soil with trichoderma. For this, mix five kg of trichoderma with two to three quintals of dung manure and keep it for 10 to 12 days. If the disease spreads, spread it over a whole hectare. This will improve soil treatment.
Blight problem in potato
There are two types of blight disease. Early blight and late blight. Due to early blight disease of potato crop, small oval brown spots appear on the lower and older leaves. Gradually its effect is visible in both leaves and tubers. Infested tubers, the pulp below the scar becomes brown and dry, and late blight is the most serious disease of the potato crop. The outbreak of this disease is seen in leaves, stems and tubers. The disease is most prevalent when the temperature is 10 to 20 degrees Celsius and the sky is cloudy.
Ways to prevent blight in potatoes
As soon as the disease appears in potato, 600-800 grams of Blitox-50 or Mancozeb in 200 liters of water should be sprayed per acre. Repeat the spray at an interval of 15 days. It is the most devastating disease of potato. The main cause of late blight disease is a fungus called Phytophthora infestans. This disease is also known as late blight, blight, epidemic and blight etc.